294 



Obder 45.— POLYGALACE^. 



on the upper side. Ovary swpenoT, compound, with suspended ovules, united styles 



and stigmas. Fruit a 2-oeUed, 2-se6ded pod. Seeds pendulDtis, furnished with a 



carancle. „ _ . „ 



ffenera 20, apedea 600. The genus Polygala 

 is veiy generally distribated. The other genera 

 are mostly limited each to a particular quarter 

 of the plobe. Properties generally bitter,flcrid 

 and astringent, with a milky juice in the .root. 

 Ehatany-rbot, the root of Krameria, used in 

 medicine, yields a deep red color and is used 

 to adulterate port wine. The more active 

 species of Polygala, as P. Seneg.1, sanguinea, 

 purpurea, etc., are emetic, purgative and diu- 

 retic. 



POLYGALA, Tourn. Milkwort. 

 (Gr. TxoXv^, mucli, ydXa, milk ; said 

 to favor the lacteal secretions of 

 animals.) Flowers very irregular. 

 Sepals 5, 2 of them wing-shaped 

 and petaloid ; petals 3, cohering 

 by their claws to the filaments, 

 lower one carinate and often crested 

 on the back ; stamens 6 or 8, fila- 

 ments united into a split tube; an- 

 thers 1-celled ; capsule obcordate, 

 2-celled, 2-seeded, loculicidal ; seed 

 appendaged with a various caruncle 

 at the hilum. — Bitter herbs in the 

 TJ. S. and Can. (elsewhere often 

 shrubby), with simple Ivs. Fls. 

 often of two forms, the subterra- 

 nean apetalous. 



Perennial 'No. 1 



Biennial Nos. 2, £ 



- 657. Polygala 

 pol^'gama. a, the 

 radical flowers. 

 6, paucifolia, /, the 

 crest on the lower 

 petal. 9, The sta- 

 mens in 2 sets and the stylo seen beneath the hooded 

 tower petal. 640, The ovary and the style. 1. Seed 

 of V. sanguinea with its 2-lobed carnnclo. 2. Seed 

 of P. NuttoUIi. 



Leaves alternate. — Fls. purple, solitary, 2 to 4. 



~^ls. purple, racemed, many. 



— -jPis. white. Bpike slender. Perennial No. 4 



— Fls. purple. Spike capitate Caruncle double Nos. 5, T 



— Caruncle appears simple. AnnuaLNos. 8-^10 



— Fls.xanthic. — Spikes solitary, large. Biennial Nos. 11,12 



— Spikes numerous, coryrabed, small. Biennial.... Nos. 18,14 



Leaves vorticillate on the stem. — Spikes acute, slender Nos. 15, 18 



— Spikes obtuse, thick Mos. 17, IB 



1 P. paucifolia L. St. simple, erect, naked below ; Ivs. ovate, acute, smooth ; 

 terminal fla. large, crested, radical ones apetalous. — A small, handsome plant, 

 with a few large (10" long) purple flowers. "Woods and swamps, Brit. Am. to 

 Ga. St. 3 to 4' high, with its acute Ivs. mostly near the top, 2 to 4 floweraabove 

 them. Cal. of 5 leaves, the upper one gibbous at base. Corolla mostly purple, 

 with a purple crest on its middle lobe. The radical fis. are either close to the 

 ground or subterraneouSj smaller, greenisli, wanting the wings of the calyi. 

 May. 



2 P. grandifldra Walt. Ascending, pubescent; Ivs. ovate-lanceolate to lance- 

 linear, acute ; fls. distant, pendulous after blooming, wings large, roundish, cover- 

 ing the corolla and fruit, keel as long as the wings (3"), crestUss. — @;? Common in 

 dry soils, S. Car., Ga., Pla. to La. A pretty plant, 9 to 12' high, remarkable for 

 its changeable flowers, rose-colored at first, soon becoming green and drooping, 

 and alone destitute of a crest, having a ryellow callosity instead. Lvs. 9 to 16" 

 long, 2 to 4" wide, often nearly glabrous. May — Aug. 



3 P. pol^gama "Walt Sis. simple, numerous, glabrous; Ivs. linear oblong, mu- 

 cronate, obtuse ; fls. racemed, short-pediceled, those of the stem winged, those 

 of the root wingless ; keel cristate. — ^Fields and pastures, Can. to Fla. and La. 

 Sts. crowded, many from the same root, angular, smooth. Lvs. smooth, lower 



