DESCRIPTION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
17 
POLYGALACEiE. (Milkwort Family.) 
Polygala Senega, L. Seneca Snakeroot. Low herb with sim- 
ple entire leaves and no stipules, with flowers in a solitary 
close spike on simple stems, 6-12' high, springing from thick 
and hard, knotty rootstocks. Flowers irregular. Calyx 5- 
sepalous, persistent, the 3 upper sepals small, the 2 lateral 
much larger. Petals 3, hypogynous. Fruit a small 2-seeded 
pod. Seeds with a caruncle nearly as long as the seed. FI. 
May-June. Frequent in East Tennessee. 
Polygala Senega, L. Var. latifolia. Torr. & Gray. Is a stouter 
variety, prevailing in Middle Tennessee. The root, collected 
in summer. 
LEGUMINOSiE. (Pulse Family.) 
Trifolium pratense, L. Red Clover. The common clover of 
our fields, with sessile purple flowers in ovate heads, sweet- 
scented. It is a short-lived perennial. 
Trifolium repens, L. White or Dutch Clover. A smooth 
perennial; the slender stems spreading and creeping ; flow- 
ers shortly pedicelled in umbel-like, round heads, the short 
pedicels reflexed when old ; corolla white or rose-color. It 
is by some held to be the Shamrock of the Irish legend, but 
from ancient pictures and carvings, St. Patrick’s plant was 
of upright growth and responds to Oxalis acetosella. The 
flower-heads of both species are used for extracts.* 
Melilotus officinalis, Willd. Yellow Melilot. Sweet Clo- 
ver. Biennial herb, fragrant in drying, upright ; 2-4° higfl; 
leaves pinnately 3-foliolate, leaflets obovate oblong, obtuse. 
Flowers much as in Trifolium, corolla yellow, deciduous, 
free from the stamen-tube, the petals nearly of equal length. 
Pod ovoid, coriaceous, wrinkled, longer than the calyx, 
scarcely dehiscent, 1-2-seeded. Waste ground. Introduced, 
but in places frequently met in great numbers. The herb is 
officinal. 
Psoralea melilotoid.es, Michx. Psoralea. Perennial herb, 
*2 
