Polygala Bracteolata. Spear-Leaved Milkwort.

Class and Order.

Diadelphia Octandria.

Generic Character.

Cal. 5-phyllus: foliolis alÆformibus coloratis. Legumen obcordatum biloculare.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

POLYGALA bracteolata floribus cristatis racemosis, bractÆis triphyllis, foliis lineari-lanceolatis, caule fruticoso. Linn. Syst. Veget. ed. 14. Murr. p. 638. Berg. Cap. 182. Buxb. Cent. 3. p. 4. t. 71. Ait. Kew. v. 3. p. 4.

To the vast number or ornamental plants introduced from the Cape of Good Hope by Mr. Masson, we here add another, imported in 1787; when Mr. Aiton published his Hortus Kewensis, it most probably had not flowered with him, as he does not notice its particular time of blowing: we now see it in most of the Nurserymen's collections of greenhouse plants, flowering from May to July. It is a plant of great singularity and beauty, the purple of its flowers is brilliant in the extreme.

It is increased by cuttings.

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