Illustrations of the principal natural orders of the vegetable kingdom / prepared for the Science and Art Department of the Council of Education by Professor Oliver ; the plates by W.H. Fitch.

  • Oliver, Daniel, 1830-1916.
Date:
1874
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Illustrations of the principal natural orders of the vegetable kingdom / prepared for the Science and Art Department of the Council of Education by Professor Oliver ; the plates by W.H. Fitch. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Nahiral Order POLYGALACEiE. Tab. lo. Diagnosis.—Herbs, often wiry, or undershrubs, with alternate simple leaves. Flowers irregular. Stamens hypogynous, 8 or rarely fewer, mona- delphous. Pistil syncarpous. Ovary 2-celled, with one ovule in each cell. Distribution,—Widely dispersed through the temperate and warmer regions of the Globe. The cosmopolitan and only European genus, Milkwort [Polygala), includes about half of the Natural Order. The Rhatanys {Krameria) of South America closely connect the Order with Leguminosae. One British Genus ; Species, 3. Flowers usually racemose in Milkwort. Sepals 5, distinct, unequal; two inner much larger, petal-like, often persistent, called wings {alcd). Petals in Milkwort 3 ; the central one concave or hooded, called the keel (carina), often crested at the apex ; each singly adnate below to the open sheath of stamens ; two posterior petals usually suppressed. Anthers i-celled by obliteration of the connective of an originally 2-celled anther, and dehiscing by a pore in Milkwort. Fruit usually a compressed 2-seeded capsule. USES, &c.—Polygalaceas are generally characterised by bitterness and acridity. Several species of the,genus Milkwort are employed in medicine. The astringent Rhatany-root is derived from a South American Krameria. One or two beautiful species of Milkwort from the Cape of Good Hope are commonly cultivated in greenhouses.