1836.} 



Flora of Courtallum. 



59 



tallum, as yet none of the former. Four of the six are I believe 

 natives of Ceylon, and found in similar situations : the species of 

 lonidium are very widely distributed over India, extending from 

 Cape Comorin ..to Delhi, but, unfortunately, so far as it is yet known, 

 are of no value in an economical point of view. Many of the Ameri- 

 can r and some of the European, species, possess emetic properties, and 

 are used as substitutes for ipecacuanha. 



X. — Poly gale (B* 



A large Order found more or less copiously distributed over nearly 

 the whole globe. Dr. Wallich has named 31 species in his list, some 

 of which,, however, are natives of the Eastern Islands. Fifteen are- de- 

 scribed in the Peninsular Flora, to which I have since added five new 

 ones, namely ; one Polygala ; one Salomonia, forming an additional 

 link between the Floras of the Peninsula, Ceylon and China, in which 

 countries, only, this genus has yet been found ; and three species of 

 Xanthophyllum. The last are all from Courtallum. Of the genus 

 Polygala 1 have only three species from Courtallum, owing to their 

 being generally found on the plains, while my collections are principal- 

 ly alpine. Blume describes seven species from Java, referable to 

 three genera. The authors of the Flore Senegambie have three from 

 that country. . 



In a botanical point of view this Order is interesting, as affording a 

 good example of unsymmetrical flowers. The normal, or regular, 

 form of a flower, is to have, say, 5 sepals, 5 petals and 5, 10, 15, &c. 

 stamens, or the sepals, petals and stamens, regular multiples of each 

 other. In place of this arrangement, we find in Polygala a calyx of 

 five sepals, the two lateral ones petaloid, and much larger than the 

 other three (they are usually called aloe or wings in the generic cha- 

 racter) ; a corolla of three petals, the claws of which are usually united 

 at the base, forming a single tubular three cleft petal, the middle lobe 

 of which is frequently furnished with a crest ; and eight stamens united 

 into two bundles. Xanthophylhim, except the stamens, returns to the 

 normal form, having five sepals and five distinct petals, but only eight 

 stamens, six of which are opposed to the petals, in place of having 

 ten, the normal number, opposed alternately to the sepals and petals. 

 This irregularity of structure has caused much diversity of opinion 

 among botanists, as to the place the Order should occupy in the natural 

 series ; a subject which it is unnecessary to discuss here. 



With the exception of a few species, little is known regarding their 

 economical properties. The roots of most are milky, and the leaves 

 bitter. Polygala Senega, an American plant, has a variety of valuable 

 properties attributed to it, and, in this country, the roots of several are 

 said to be antidotes to snake bite. The fresh root, bruised and applied 

 to the part, is a remedy on which 1 should not feel disposed to place 



