tOLYGALACEAE (MILKWORT FAMILY) 307 



to o^)oyate, somewhat cuneate 3,t base and either obtuse or acute at apex, 

 3-7 cm. long, crenulate or crenate-serrate or almost entire: filaments villous 

 near the base: samara, including the, broad, wing, 12-18 mni. broad, either 

 truncate or emarginate at both ends.' P. trifoliata. {P. angnstifolia Benth., 

 a Mexican species, has been reported from our range, but such specimens may- 

 prove to be P. crenvlata.) — Colorado to New Mexico and west to California. 



2. THAMNOSMA Terr. 



Low glandular desert shrubs. , Strongly 'Scented leaves simple and linear. 

 Alternate flowers purple or yellow, solitary. Sepils 4. Petals 4, erect. Sta- 

 mens 8, at.tl^ebase of a cup-shaped crenate or lobed disk. Ovary stipitate, 

 2-lobed and 2-celled, with 5 or 6 ovules in each cell; style elongated. Cap- 

 sule didym'ous, coriaceous, dehiscent down thte inner edge of each lobe. Seeds/ 

 4-6 in each cell, reniform. 



1. Thamnosma texanumTorr.Bot. Mex. Bound. Surv. 42. 1858. Woody 

 only at 'base, the slender stems 1-4 dm. high: flowers on short naked pedicels: 

 petals yellow tinged with purple. — Southwestern Colorado and southward. 



63. POLYGALACEAE Reichenb. Milkwort Family 



Herbs with simple entire leaves and no stipules, remarkable for the seem- 

 ingly papilionaceous flowers, monadelphous stamens coherent with the petals, 

 and 1-celled anthers opening at the top. 



1. POLYGALA L. Milkwort 



Herbaceous or somewhat shrubfey, with racemose or spicate flowers. Se- 

 pals 5, very unequal, the 2 lateral lar^e and petal-like. Petals 3, united to 

 each other and to the' stamen-tube, the middle one hooded above and often 

 crested or beaked. Stamens 6 or 8. Ovary 2-celled; style long, ' curved, di- 

 lated above. Capsule membranaceous, flattened at right angles to the narrow 

 partition, often notched above. Seed carunculate at the hilum. 



Shru,bby and spinegcent. 



Subcinefebus-pubescen^,^ . ,. 1. P. acanthocarpa. 



.■'Glabrcm^ i< ". ', >. . .2. P. subspinosa. 



Herbaceous or nearly so; spines wanting. 



Annual; leaves verticillate . . , 3. P. verticillata. 



Perennial; leaves alternate . ^ , . . , . . , 4. P. alba. 



1. Polygala acanthocari)a Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 11: 73. 1876. Some- 

 what shrubby,' 4-7 dmi high, subcinereous-pubescent,' arined with Slender 

 spines: leaves linear-spatulate: flowers subaxulary, scattered, white; pedicels 

 bibfacteolate at base: keel short, boat-shaped, with a boss on the back. — 

 Probably coming into our 'range at the southwest. 



2. Polygala subspinosa Wats. Am. Nat. 7: 299. 1873. Perennial, her- 

 baceouSi' glabrous or more or, less pubescent; stems ,5-20 cm. high, branched 

 above, the branches often spinose: leaves scattered, 1-3* cm. long, oblong oi 

 oblanceplate, acute or obtuse, attenuate to the base: raceme loose, few- 

 flowered; bracts small and scarious; pedicels becoming reflexed, shorter than 

 the flowers: sepals naked or oiliate, the. wings oblong,, 8-lQ mm. long and 

 equaling the petals; keel hooded, crested, with a broad. saccate process: style 

 linear; capsule orbicular, emarginate, short-stipitate. — ^Prom Colorado to 

 the Pacific southwest. 



3. Polygala verticillata L. Sp. PI. 706. 1753. Slender, 2-3 dm. high: stem 

 leaves whorled in fours, sometimes in fives; those of the branches scattered, 

 linear: spikes pedunclea, dense, slender; the bracts falling with the flowers, 

 which are small, greenish-white oi: barely tinged with purple, the crest of' the 



