JPOLYGALACE^. (mILKWOKT FAMILY.) 87 



wings on shorter claws ; and the narrow caruncle not longer than the stalk-Iika 

 base of the pear-shaped seed. 



ri- ^- Leaves, at least the lower ones, in whorls. 

 ++ Flowers middle-sized, in thick spikes, rose-color or greenish-purple. 



7. P. ciliciata) L. Low, with spreading opposite branches ; leaves 

 nearly all in fours (rarely fives), linear and somewhat spatulate or oblanceolato ; 

 sjiikes sessile or nearly so, dense, oblong becoming cylindrical ; bracts persistent ; 

 wings broadly deltoid-ovate, slightly heart-shaped, tapering to a bristly point ; camncle 

 nearly as long as the seed. — Margin of swamps, Maine to Virginia and south- 

 ward near the coast, and along the Great Lakes. Aug. - Sept. — Stems 3' - 10' 

 high, with almost winged angles. Spikes fully J' in diameter. 



8. P. brevifolia, Nutt. Eather slender, branched above ; leaves in fours, 

 or scattered on the branches, narrowly spatulate-oblong ; spikes pedunded, ob- 

 long, rather loose ; wings lanceolate-ovate, pointless or bardy mucronate. — Margin 

 of sandy bogs, Khode Island ( Olney), New Jersey and southward. Sept. ^ 

 Closely allied to the last, probably only a marked variety of it. 



4-f ++ Flowers small, in slender elongated spikes, greenish-white, rarely tinged with 

 purple : the crest ratlier large in proportion. 



9. P. verticillkta, L. Slender (6'-10' high), much branched; stem- 

 leaves in Jours or Jives, those oj the branches scattered, linear, acute ; spikes pedun- 

 clod, dense, acute; bracts falling with the flowers; unngs round, clawed; tha 

 2-lobed camncle half the length of the seed. — Dry soil ; common. June - Oct. 



10. P. ambig^lia, Nutt. Very slender, loosely branched; lowest stem- 

 Uaves in Jours, the rest scattered, narrowly linear ; spikes hng-peduncled, very slen- 

 der, the flowers often scattered ; wings oval ;_ caruncle shorter ; otherwise nearly 

 as in No. 9 (of which it is probably a mere variety). — Dry woods, from New 

 York southward. 



# * * Perennial: Jhwers white, spiked; no subterranean blossoms, 



11. P. Senega, L. (Seneca Snakeroot.) Stems several from a 

 thick and hard knotty root, simple (6'- 12' high) ; leaves lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, with rough margins, alternate; spike cylindrical, the flowers on 

 extremely short pedicels ; wings round-obovate, concave ; crest short ; caruncle 

 nearly as long as the seed. — Rocky open woods or plains, W. New England 

 to Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Virginia. May, June. 



Var. latifdlia, Ton-. & Gray. Taller (9'- 16' high), sometimes branched; 

 leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate, very large (2' -4' long), tapering to each end. 

 Kentucky, Short. 

 * * * * Biennial or perennial: Jlowers rose-purple, shovy, crested; also bearing 



whitish and inconspicuous more Jertile ones, with imperfect corollas, on subterranean 



branches. 



12. P. polygama, Walt. Stems numerous from the biennial root, 

 mostly simple, ascending, very leafy (6' to 9' high) ; leaves oblanceolate or oblong, 

 alternate ; terminal raceme many-Jlowered, the broadly obovate wings longer than 

 the keel ; stamens 8 ; radical flowers racemod on short runners on or beneath 

 ibe ground; lobes of the caruncle 2, scale-like, shorter than the seed. (P. 

 rubfeUa, Mtihl. ) — Dry s.andy soil ; common. — July. 



