92 



POPULAR GARDEN BOTANY. 



SPABMANNIA. 



Gen. Char. (Polyandria Monogynia.) Calyx four-leaved ; petals 

 four ; filaments cohering at the base, slightly twisted ; capsule 

 covered with prickles, five-angled and five-celled; cells two- 

 seeded. 



Named after Sparman, a Swede, and traveller. 8. Afri- 

 cana, from the Cape, is a beautiful shrub, and deserves a 

 place in the greenhouse ; it has pure white flowers, which 

 are in beauty in March ; there is also another species called 

 rugosa, with rough leaves. They grow freely in loam and 

 peat, and are increased by cuttings. 



POLYGALACEM 

 Exogens, with flowers in racemes, often small and incon- 

 spicuous, but sometimes showy ; stalks with three bracts. Division 

 of calyx very irregular, two of them like winged petals. Petals 

 usually three, of which one is large and keeled. Stamens eight, 

 usually combined in a tube, sometimes four, and distinct. — Shrubs 

 or herbaceous plants, occasionally twiners ; leaves generally alter- 

 nate, sometimes opposite ; natives of various parts of the world, 

 having bitter and milky qualities. 



POLYGALA. 



Gen. Char. (Diadelphia Octandria.) Calyx of five leaves, two 



