30 POLYGALACE.E. (MILKWORT FAMILY.) 



7. V. Nuttallii, Pursh. From densely pubescent to nearly glabrous: 

 leaves oblong-ovate to oblong, attenuate into the long petiole, entire or obscurely 

 sinuate ; stipules mostly narrow, entire : peduncles usually shorter titan the leaves : 

 capsule ovate, smooth. — From Colorado to the Upper Missouri and Washing- 

 ton; also in California. 



•t- *- Stems naked below, two-leaved above. 



8. "V. taiflora, L. Stem weak, 2-leaved and 2-flowered : leaves reniform, 

 very obtuse, crenate ; stipules ovate, very entire : flowers very small, yellow : 

 petals marked with brown lines : spurs short. — Colorado. 



2. IONIDIUM, Vent. 



Petals very unequal, the two upper shorter, the lower one very large. 

 Stamens approximate, the anterior ones each furnished with a nectarifer- 

 ous gland at the base. — Leaves opposite or alternate ; peduncles axillary, 

 solitary. 



1. I. lineare, Torr. Somewhat pubescent: leaves entire or remotely 

 serrulate ; the lower varying from lanceolate to oblong or obovate ; the upper 

 linear ; stipules linear : peduncles articulated, bibracteolate : flowers small. — 

 From Colorado eastward and southward across the plains. 



Order 9. POL.YGAL.ACE.E. (Milkwort Family.) 



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

 seemingly papilionaceous flowers, monadelphous or diadelphous stamens 

 coherent with the petals, and one-celled anthers opening at the top. 



1. POLYGALA, Tourn. Milkwort. 



Sepals 5, very unequal, the 2 lateral large 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, 

 dilated above. Capsule membranaceous, flattened contrary to the narrow 

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

 or somewhat shrubby, with racemose or spicate flowers. 



1. P. vertioillata, L. Slender, 6 to 10 inches high: stem-leaves whorled 

 hi fours, sometimes in fives; those of the branches scattered, linear: spikes pe- 

 duncled, dense, slender; the bracts falling with the flowers, which are small, 

 greenish-white or barely tinged with purple, the crest of the keel conspicuous : 

 the 2-lobed caruncle half the length of the seed. — Colorado and eastward across 

 the plains. 



2. P. alba, Nutt. Smoothish, one foot high, leafy half-way to the sum- 

 mit : leaves linear to oblanceolale, margins slightly revolute : flowers deciduous, 

 leaving the rachis roughened after their fall, white : seed with caruncle extended 

 into two ear-like lobes nearly as long as the seed. — Plains of the Upper Missouri. 



3. P. acanthoclada, Gray. Somewhat shrubby, 2 feet high, subcinereous- 

 pubescent, armed with slender spines: leaves linear-spatidate : flowers subaxillary, 

 scattered, while ; pedicels bibracteolate at base : keel short boat-shaped, witli a 

 boss on the back. — Proc. Am. Acad. xi. 73. S. W. Colorado and S. E, Utah. 



