WILD FLOWERS OF NEW YORK 1 59 



Iii situations similar to the preceding species hut more common north- 

 ward, Nova Scotia to Saskatchewan, south to Georgia and Kansas. 

 Flowering from July to September. 



Milkwort Family 



Polygalaceae 



A family of small herbs (our species) with alternate, opposite or 

 whorled leaves. Flowers racemose, spicate or capitate, rarely solitary 

 and axillary, sometimes also with cleistogamous and subterranean flowers. 

 Sepals very unequal, the two lateral ones large and petallike. Petals 

 three, united into a tube which is split on the back, and more or less adnate 

 to the stamens. Stamens eight or six, monadelphous below, or diadelphous. 

 Capsule membranaceous, compressed, dehiscent along the margin. Seeds 

 one in each cavity of the capsule and usually hairy. 



Our species all belong to Polygala, a very large genus of plants, con- 

 taining about sixty species in North America, of which about eleven are 

 found in New York State. The following key may be of service in 

 identifying them. 



Flowers orange-yellow in a dense oblong spike ; basal leaves spatulate 1 P. 1 u t e a 



Flowers rose or purple, distinctly racemose 2 P. p o 1 y g a m a 



Flowers rose-purple to white, one to four in number, axillary, but apparently terminal. . . . 



3 P. paucifolia 

 Flowers in terminal, more or less elongated spikes, or if the spikes oblong, flowers not 

 yellow and no basal leaves 

 Leaves at least the lower, verticillate, spikes 4 to 9 lines thick, blunt; flowers purple 

 to greenish white 



Spikes sessile or nearly so; wings deltoid 4 P. cruciata 



Spikes peduncled ; wings lanceolate-ovate 5 P. brevifolia 



Leaves verticillate and alternate; spikes 2 to 3 lines thick and acute 



Verticillate leaves predominating; spikes dense; flowers green to purplish 



6 P. verticillata 



Alternate leaves predominating; spikes loose; flowers more purple 



7 P. ambigua 



