Flora of North America species comparison

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Galactia marginalis

edible milkpea
Habit Herbs from a short, ovoid-fusiform tuber sometimes producing slender rhizomes or rhizomelike caudex branches from apex.
Stems

procumbent, not twining, lignescent, sparsely to moderately short-strigose, hairs retrorse.
Leaflets

1, blade narrowly elliptic to narrowly lanceolate, 25–85 × 4–10(–16) mm, leathery, veins closely reticulate and strongly raised, thickened marginal vein completely encircling entire margin, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces not glaucous abaxially, glabrous throughout.
Inflorescences

flowers solitary, axillary;

axis 3–8 mm.
Flowers

calyx 5–6 mm, short-strigose;

corolla pink to purple, purple-red, or deep lavender, 13–15 mm.
Legumes

straight, 25–35 × 5–7 mm, short-strigose, hairs closely appressed.
Seeds

(5–)7–9.

Galactia marginalis
Phenology Flowering (Feb–)Apr–Oct.
Habitat Oak-juniper woodlands, blackjack-post oak woods, coastal prairies, sands, sandy loam, gravelly hillsides, ditch banks.
Elevation 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas); South America (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Galactia marginalis is characterized by prostrate stems, glabrous, 1-foliolate leaves with closely reticulate, raised venation and a completely encircling marginal vein, and relatively large, solitary, axillary flowers. The species is known from at least 14 counties, mostly on the Coastal Plain of southeastern Texas.

A. Burkart (1971) described Galactia marginalis var. columbiana Burkart based on a specimen from Cundinamarca, Colombia, that was thought to represent an intermediary between the population of G. marginalis in southeastern Texas and in southern South America. The Colombia collection has subsequently been identified as G. glaucescens Kunth.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Galactia
Sibling taxa
G. brachypoda, G. canescens, G. elliottii, G. erecta, G. fasciculata, G. floridana, G. grisebachii, G. heterophylla, G. joselyniae, G. longifolia, G. microphylla, G. minor, G. mollis, G. pinetorum, G. regularis, G. smallii, G. striata, G. texana, G. volubilis, G. wrightii
Synonyms Cologania heterophylla
Name authority Bentham: Comm. Legum. Gen., 62. (1837)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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