upper and lateral or inner sepals, often connate with the keel (rarely
5, and then the 2 minute additional ones are situated between the
wings and the lower sepals) : the keel usually crested or 3-lobed.
Stamens 6-8, hypogynous : filaments combined into a tube which is
split on the upper side and more or less connate with the claws of the
petals, free at the summit : anthers innate, usually 1-celled,* opening by
a terminal pore. Ovary compressed, formed of 2 (anterior and posterior)
united carpels, 2-celled with the placentas in the axis, sometimes
1.celled by the suppression of the upper cell, very rarely 1-celled with
2 parietal placent® : ovules solitary (or very rarely 2 -6 ) in each car-
pel, pendulous : style curved and often cucullate. Fruit loculicidal or
indéhiscent. Seeds anatropous, with a crustaceous testa : albumen copious
and fleshy, rarely almost none. Embryo as long as the albumen,
straight or very slightly curved.—Herbaceous (all the N. American
species) or shrubby plants ; the roots very bitter and often milky.
Leaves exstipulate, entire, generally alternate or sparse, the lower
ones not unfrequently verticillate. Flowers usually racemose or
spicate : pedicels 1-3-bracteate.
1. POLYGALA. Tourn.; Lam. ill. t. 598; A. St. HU. Moquin-Tan-
don, in mem. mus. 17. p. 313.
Sepals persistent ; the wings large and petaloid. Petals 3 ; their claws coherent
with the stamineal tube ; the lowest one keel-shaped. Ovary 2-celled :
ovules solitary in each cell. Capsule 2-celled, compressed contrary to the
very narrow dissepiment, elliptical, obovate or obcordate. Seeds caruncu-
late, with copious albumen.—Racemes often spicate or capitate.
§ 1. Spikes thick, capitate or ohlong, terminating the stem andbr anches:
keel cristate (the crest often minute): style mostly cucullate and dilated
in the middle : filaments united nearly to the summit : caruncle
with a 2-lobed appendage. Annual or biennial.
1. P. sanguinea (Linn.) : spikes globose-ovate, rather loose ; wings el-
liptical-obovate, attenuate at the base, twice as long as the fruit, crest minute ;
seed globose-obovate; hairy, with a very minute caruncle ; leaves linear ;
stem somewhat fastigiately branched.—Nutt.! gen. 2. p. 8 8 ; DC. prodr.
1. p. 328. P. viridescens, Poir. diet. 5. p. 502 (fide DC.) ; Pursh, fl. 2.
p. 465.
Dry soils, New Jersey (Nuttall) to Georgia! Kentucky! and Louisiana !
Aug.-Sept.—(J) About a span high. Leaves £ of an inch long, acute.
Spike an inch long, and about half an inch in diameter, obtuse. Wings thin
and membranaceous, bright rose-color. Capsules Broadly obovate, scarcely
covered by the narrow wings. Style much dilated and cucullate in the middle,
with a filiform bearded process at the summit. Seed black.
* That the one-celled anthers in this family do not belong to half stamens, but result
from the union of the two cells, is evident from their structure in Polygala pau-
cifolia and others of the same section, in which the imperfect septum may be observed.
2. P. purpurea (Nutt.) : spikes ovate or oblong, compact; wings broadly
ovate or obovate ; crest minute ; seed obovate, hairy ; carancle nearly as long
as the seed: leaves linear and oblong-linear; stem fastigiately branched.
Nutt. gen. 2. p. 8 8 ; DC. prodr. l.jj.328; Darlingt.fi. Cest.p. 401. P. sanguinea,
Michx.! fl. 2. p. 52; P u rsh ! fl. 2. p. 465; Bigel. fl.B o s t.p . 264;
Bart. fi. Amer. Sept. 2. t. 46. , ,
Wet meadows; also in sandy fields, Massachusetts! to New Orleans!
west to Arkansas! July-September.—(T) Stem 8-12 inches high erect,
sometimes simple, but usually more or less branched above, angular and
slightly winged. Leaves an inch long and 2 fines wide. Racemes a.t first
almost globose, at length oblong ; lower flowers deciduous . bracts minute,
somewhat persistent. Wings usually dilated at the base, or somewhat cordate,
rose-color and green, of a firm texture, generally twice as long as the
mature fruit. Style as in the preceding species. Seeds grayish-black.—
Much more common than the preceding species, from which it is easily distinguished
by its broader and thicker wings, and minute caruncle, which is
scarcely one-fifth the length of the seed. This is P. sanguinea of most
North American botanists ; but whether it is the plant of Linnaeus can only
be determined by consulting his herbarium.
3. P. crueiata (Linn.) : spikes ovate, dense, sessile or on short peduncles;
wings deltoid-cordate, acute or cuspidate; crest minute; caruncle nearly as
long as the seed; stem somewhat fastigiate, winged at the angles; leaves
verticillate in fours, linear and linear-oblong, punctate.—Michx. ! fi. 2. p.
52; Nutt.! gen.2.p. 89; DC. prodr. 2. p. 328; Ell. sk .2 .p . 183; Btgel.fi.
Bost. p. 266; Hook. fl. Bor. Am. l.p.85. P. brevifolia, Nutt, l.c ; D C. 1. c.
P. fastigiata, Nutt.! 1. c. P. cuspidata, Hook, $ Am. in bot.jour. l.p . 195.
Swamps, particularly where Sphagnum abounds, Massachusetts to Florida
! west to Louisiana! Aug.-Sept.—© Stem (in open situations) low
and with spreading branches, or (in shady places) rather tall, with erect
slender branches. Leaves linear, or somewhat oblong, obtuse, marked with
obscure resinous dots. Spikes at first dense, often sessile, but sometimes pedunculate.
Wings much dilated at the base, greenish with a purple margin,
larger than the capsule. Lateral petals oblong. Style as in P. sanguinea.
Seed obovate-oblong, sparsely hirsute.—This species varies much in size,
branching of the stem and form of the leaves, according to its degree of exposure
to fight and moisture.
4. P. lutea (Linn.) : spikes ovate, dense ; flowers distinctly pedicellate;
wings ovate, abruptly acuminate; exterior sepals minute ; crest minute; cau-
line leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute; radical ones obovate, attenuate at the
base ; stems mostly branched.—Nutt. ! gen. 2. p. 8 8 ; DC. prodr. 1. p. 328;
Ell. sk. 2. p. 185. P. lutea, var. elatior, Michx.! fl. 2. p. 54.
Sandy swamps, New Jersey ! to Alabama! June-October.—© Stem
6-12 inches high, often simple, but generally throwing off a few long nearly
naked and spreading branches.. Radical leaves rosulate, obtuse. Flowers
bright orange-yellow, and of nearly the same color when dry. Style elongated,
slightly dilated in the middle, from which proceeds a pedicellate gland.
Seed hairy. Lobes of the caruncle linear, collateral, nearly as long as the seed.
5. P. nana (DC.) : spikes cylindrical-ovate, dense; flowers nearly sessile;
wings ovate, cuspidately acuminate, twice the length of the nearly equal exterior
sepals; crest conspicuous, segments filiform, exceding the lateral petals ;
leaves oblong-spatulate, somewhat petioled; stem mostly simple, often shorter
than the leaves.—DC. prodr. 1. p. 328. P. viridescens, Nutt. ! gen. 2.
p. 88' ( not of Poir.) ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 186. P. lutea, var. nana, Michx. ! fl. 2.
p. 54.
Damp pine barrens, Carolina! to Louisiana ! west to Arkansas!—Stems
1-4 inches long. Radical leaves often figulate, obtuse. Spikes large and