584 FLORA. 



7. Polygala ambigua Nutt. Loose-spiked Milkwort. (I. F. f. 2279.) 

 Resembling the preceding species, but often taller, 1-4 dm. high, slender. Lower 

 stem leaves commonly verticillate, but the others all alternate; spikes long, loose, 

 the lower flowers often quite distant; peduncles often several inches long; flowers 

 rather larger; wings purple or purplish, nearly circular in outline; mature capsule 

 hardly longer than the wings, which are appressed to it; seed hairy. In dry soil, 

 Me. to Ga., Mo. and La. 



8. Polygala incarnata L. Pink Milkwort. (I. F. f. 2280.) Erect, glau- 

 cous, very slender, 3-6 dm. high; stem-leaves distant, linear or subulate, sessile, 

 2-12 mm. long, rarely wanting; spike dense, 2.5-3.75 cm. long, 4-8 mm. thick; 

 pedicels I mm. long or less; bracts minute or none; flowers I— 1.2 cm. long; corolla- 

 tube slender, 2-5 times the length of the wings, its keel prominently crested; wings 

 cuspidate; seed hairy, the caruncle- lobes enveloping its beaked extremity. In dry 

 soil, Ont. to Wis., N. J., Fla., Kans. and Mex. Summer. 



9. Polygala viridescens L. Field or Purple Milkwort. (I. F.f. 2281.) 

 Erect, 1.5-4 dm. high, at length branching above, leafy. Stem somewhat angled; 

 stem-leaves oblong or linear-oblong, 1.6-3 cm - l° n g> 2-4 mm. wide, mucronulate; 

 heads becoming oval, 8-12 mm. thick; pedicels about 1 mm. long; flowers rose-purple, 

 greenish or sometimes white; wings sessile, sometimes slightly cordate, exceeding 

 the pod; seed obovoid, hairy, about the length of the caruncle; crest minute. In 

 fields and meadows, N. S. to N. Car., Minn., Kans. and La. June-Sept. The 

 contrast between the green-flowered and purple-flowered forms is striking where 

 the two grow together. [P. sanguinea L.] 



10. Polygala Curtissii A. Gray. Curtiss' Milkwort. (I. F. f. 2282.) 

 Erect, slender, 2-2.5 dm. h*gh> much resembling the preceding species and the 

 following; heads globose or rarely elongated, loosely flowered, 8-12 mm. thick; 

 wings clawed, nearly erect, twice the length of the pod; seed obovoid, very hairy, 

 apiculate; caruncle minute, much shorter than the seed. In dry soil, Penn. to Ky. 

 and Ga. Aug. -Sept. 



11. Polygala Mariana Mill. MarylandMilkwort. (I. F. f. 2283.) Slen- 

 der, 1.5-4 dm. high, at length much branched above; stem-leaves linear, 6-18 

 mm. long, about 2 mm. wide, entire, mostly acute, mucronulate; heads globose or 

 slightly longer than thick, obtuse, 6-8 mm. wide; pedicels slender, 3-4 mm. long; 

 flowers rose-purple; wings ovate-oblong or obovate, pointed, narrowed at the base, 

 slightly longer than the pod; caruncle -lobes embracing the smaller extremity of 

 the slightly hairy obovoid seed; corolla minutely crested. In dry soil, southern 

 N. J. to Fla., Ky. and La. July-Sept. 



12. Polygala Nuttallii T. & G. Nuttall's Milkwort. (I. F. f. 2284.) 

 Erect, slender, 1-2 dm. high, branching above; stem-leaves numerous, 1-2 mm. 

 wide, entire; spikes about 4 mm. thick, 6-12 mm. long, the floral axis elongating 

 as the fruits fall away from below; pedicels 1 mm. long or less; bracts subulate, 

 persistent; flowers greenish or yellowish purple, 2 mm. long; seed obovoid, very 

 liairv, longer than the caruncle; wings oblong to oval, about equalling the pod; 

 crest very small. In dry sandy soil, Eastern Mass. to N. Car., Mo. and Ala. Aug.- 

 Sept. 



13. Polygala Senega L. Seneca Snakeroot. Mountain Flax. (I. F. 

 f. 2285.) Stems several, from woody rootstocks, erect or ascending, 1.5-3 dm. 

 high; leaves alternate, sessile, 6-8 mm. wide, serrulate, the lowest much smaller 

 and scale-like; spike short-peduncled, dense, acute, 2.5-5 cm - l° n g> flowers 3 mm. 

 long, white or tinged with green; pedicels less than 1 mm. long; wings orbicular- 

 obovate, concave; crest of the corolla short, few-lobed; seed hairy, slightly longer 

 than the lobes of the caruncle. In rocky woods, N. B. to Minn, and the Canadian 

 Rocky Mts., N. Car. and Ark. May-June. 



Polygala St'nega latif61ia T. & G. Stem taller, often branched ; leaves ovate or 

 ovate-oblong, 5-10 cm. long, acuminate, acute at the base. Ont. to S. Dak., Md. and Tenn. 



14. Polygala alba Nutt. WHITE Milkwort. (I. F. f. 2286.) Stems nu- 

 merous, erect from hard woody rootstocks, slender, 1. 5-4 dm. high. Leaves 

 alternate, narrowly linear, acute. <>-^4 mm. long. 1-2 mm. wide, their margins 

 entire and revolute. the lower somewhat broader and shorter, clustered; spike 

 long-peduncled, dense, 2.5-5 cm. long; flowers 2-3 mm. long; pedicels less than 



