BRITISH WTLD FLOAVERS. 
65 
CHAPTER XI. 
THE MILKWORT FAMILY. (Polygale^, Juss.) 
Character of the Order. —Sepals five, persistent, unequal, the 
inner usually petaloid. Petals 3-4, hypogynous, adhering to the tube 
of the stamens. Stamens eight, monadelphous in two opposite equal 
parcels. Anthers one-celled, bursting by pores at the apex. Ovarium 
single, generally two-celled ; style single, incurved ; stigma funnel- 
shaped or two-lobed. Fruit capsular or drupaceous, one or two-celled ; 
dehiscence loculicidal. Seeds pendulous, solitary, with an arillus, 
sometimes hairy or comose. Embryo straight ; albumen usually copi¬ 
ous and fleshy, occasionally absent ; but, in that case, the inner coat¬ 
ing of the testa is tumid. Herbaceous plants or shrubs. Leaves 
mostly alternate, articulated with the stem. Flowers racemose. Juice 
of the root milky. Bark and root hitter. ( Lindley.) 
Description, &c. —There is only one British plant in this order. 
GENUS I. 
THE MILKWORT. (Polygala, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. DIADELPHIA OCTANDRIA. 
Generic Character. —Sepals persistent, the two inner wing-shaped. I Capsule compressed, elliptical, obovate, or obcordate. Seeds downy, 
Petals 3-5, adhering to the tube of the stamens ; the lower carinate. | without a coma, with a carunculate bilum. ( Dec.) 
Description, &c. —This genus contains only one British species; but it is interesting on account of the 
peculiar construction of the flowers. These flowers appear at first sight to resemble those of the Sweet Pea ; but on 
a closer examination their construction will be found very curious. The calyx is said to consist of five sepals, but 
two of them are coloured like the corolla; of the petals, two stand erect, while the other three grow together so 
as to form a keel, while their upper part is cut into a kind of fringe ; the stamens are hidden in the keel; their 
filaments grow together so as to form a kind of membrane, and each anther has only one cell, which opens by a 
pore at the apex. The style and stigma form a kind of hood. The seed-vessel is a flat two-celled capsule, which 
is completely concealed by the large, coloured leaves of the calyx, which remain on after the rest of the flower 
has fallen, but become green when the capsule is nearly ripe. The seeds are also very curious; for each has a 
large, white protuberance at one end. This genus is placed in the Linmean class Diadelphia, because its 
stamens are in two brotherhoods, that is to say, four are on one side, with their filaments growing together, and 
four on the other; and in the order Octandria, on account of its having eight stamens. The name of Polygala 
signifies much milk, and thus both the English and botanic names allude to the milky juice of the plant. 
I.—THE COMMON MILKATORT. (Polygala vulgaris, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 76; 2nd ed., t. 989; and our fig. 5, of each flower-stalk, deciduous. AA r ings about equal to the corolla, 
in PI. 14 . Stems ascending, simple, herbaceous. Leaves linear-lanceolate. 
Specific Character. —Flowers crested. Bracteaj three, at the base ( Smith .) 
Description, &c.— The common Milkwort is very different from the splendid plants belonging to the genus 
Polygala, which are so often seen in our greenhouses. The English Milkwort is a little plant with creeping 
stems, slightly curving upwards when in flower. The flower itself is of various shades of blue, purple, and 
rose-colour, occasionally becoming white. In the language of flowers this plant signifies solitude, because it is 
said that hermits used to plant it round their habitations. The Greeks fancied that this plant was favourable to 
cattle, on account of the great quantity of milk it contained, and the Americans supposed the milk of one 
species to be an antidote against’ the bite of the rattle-snake. 
K 
