The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links
Polygala californica

California milkwort, milkwort

shrubby milkwort

Habit Herbs, sometimes suffrutescent, multi-stemmed, often forming a ground cover, 0.5–3.5 dm. Herbs, multi-stemmed, 0.3–3(–3.5) dm (rarely straggling to 10 dm).
Stems

laxly erect, decumbent, or prostrate, pubescent to subglabrous, hairs incurved.

decumbent to erect, usually pubescent, rarely glabrous, hairs spreading or incurved.

Leaves

sessile or subsessile;

blade ovate, elliptic, or obovate, 7–50(–60) × 3–20(–26) mm, base usually rounded to acute, sometimes cuneate, apex rounded to acute, surfaces pubescent, hairs incurved.

subsessile to petiolate, petiole to 1(–1.5) mm;

blade elliptic to linear, lanceolate, ovate, obovate, or scalelike, (3–)4–41 × (0.5–)1–12(–18) mm, base rounded to cuneate, apex obtuse to rounded, surfaces pubescent or glabrous, hairs incurved or spreading.

Racemes

terminal or leaf-opposed, 1–4(–5) × 1.8–3 cm;

rachis not thorn-tipped;

peduncle 0–1 cm;

bracts early deciduous, linear to lanceolate.

terminal, usually leaf-opposed, often also from near base of plant, these usually with chasmogamous flowers, occasionally bearing reduced, beakless cleistogamous or semi-cleistogamous flowers, rarely with cleistogamous or semi-cleistogamous flowers throughout, 1–12(–15) × 0.3–1.5 cm;

rachis not thorn-tipped;

peduncle 0–1 cm;

bracts usually persistent, ovate, lanceolate, or elliptic.

Pedicels

(2.5–)3.5–8.5 mm, sparsely pubescent or glabrous.

1–4.5 mm, pubescent.

Flowers

usually pink, rarely white, keel distally yellow (fading white), (2.5–)9–14.5 mm, cleistogamous and semi-cleistogamous flowers mostly 2.5–5 mm, intergrading with chasmogamous flowers;

sepals deciduous, elliptic, 4–6.5 mm, pubescent or glabrous;

wings obovate, (7.5–)8–12 × 2.5–6 mm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent;

keel (7–)8–11 mm, sac glabrous (sometimes proximally ciliate), beak oblong, (1.2–)1.6–3 × 0.7–1 mm (mostly absent in cleistogamous flowers), usually notched or contorted abaxially, rarely subentire, pubescent.

usually pink to purple, rarely white, keel yellowish distally, wings pink or rose, (3.7–)4–7.4(–7.7) mm;

upper sepal persistent, other sepals deciduous, upper sepal ovate, 1.7–4.5(–5.2) mm, lower sepals lanceolate to obovate, (1.3–)1.6–3.5(–3.8) mm, pubescent or glabrous;

wings obovate to oblong-obovate, 3–6.4(–7.2) × (1.2–)1.4–3.2 mm, glabrous or pubescent;

keel (2.7–)3.1–6.2 mm, sac glabrous or with scattered hairs, beak linear (or bluntly rounded), (0–)0.5–2 × (0–)0.2–0.6 mm, glabrous or pubescent.

Capsules

ellipsoid to ovoid, 7.3–10.5 × 4.5–7 mm, in cleistogamous and semi-cleistogamous flowers 4.5–8 mm, base obtuse, rounded, or subtruncate, margins with narrow, entire or slightly erose wing, glabrous, margins sometimes ciliolate.

ellipsoid, oblong, slightly ovoid, or obovoid, 3.3–6(–6.8) × 2–4 mm, base rounded to subtruncate, often oblique, margins with narrow wing or not winged, usually pubescent, rarely subglabrous.

Seeds

3.5–6 mm, densely pubescent;

aril 1.7–4 mm, less than 1/2 length of seed.

2.8–4.3 mm, pubescent;

aril 0.7–2.5 mm, lobes to 3/4 length of seed.

Cleistogamous

or semi-cleistogamous flowers often present terminally, on much reduced scale-leaved lateral branches from proximal (or distal) leaf axils, or terminally on leafy branches that are often leaf-opposed.

2n

= 18.

Rhinotropis californica

Rhinotropis lindheimeri

Phenology Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Rocky or clay soils, deep duff, rich soils, serpentine soils, slopes or drainages, full sun to deep shade, open habitat, chaparral, mixed evergreen forests, oak woodlands, coniferous forests.
Elevation 10–1400 m. (0–4600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
sw United States; sc United States; n Mexico
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Rhinotropis californica occurs in western California and Oregon.

Cleistogamous and semi-cleistogamous flowers can appear earlier than chasmogamous flowers. Their flowers, fruits, and seeds are similar to those of chasmogamous flowers, but typically are smaller and without the keel beak.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 3 (2 in the flora).

Variety eucosma (S. F. Blake) T. Wendt is known from northern Mexico.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Stems usually with spreading hairs, hairs rarely somewhat crisped, mostly 0.3–0.5 mm; leaf blades usually elliptic, ovate, or obovate proximally, distally becoming narrowly so, venation usually prominently reticulate, surfaces pubescent (not glabrous); keel sacs glabrous or with scattered, spreading hairs proximally, hairs not incurved in distal 1/2.
var. lindheimeri
1. Stems usually with incurved hairs, hairs rarely irregularly spreading, 0.07–0.15 mm, rarely glabrous; leaf blades lanceolate, linear, or scalelike to elliptic, ovate, or obovate, venation usually not prominently reticulate (usually midvein prominent abaxially, occasionally reticulate), surfaces pubescent or glabrous; keel sacs glabrous or, rarely, with incurved hairs in distal 1/2.
var. parvifolia
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Polygalaceae > Rhinotropis Polygalaceae > Rhinotropis
Sibling taxa
R. acanthoclada, R. californica, R. cornuta, R. heterorhyncha, R. intermontana, R. lindheimeri, R. maravillasensis, R. nitida, R. nudata, R. rimulicola, R. rusbyi, R. subspinosa
R. acanthoclada, R. californica, R. cornuta, R. heterorhyncha, R. intermontana, R. maravillasensis, R. nitida, R. nudata, R. rimulicola, R. rusbyi, R. subspinosa
Subordinate taxa
R. lindheimeri var. lindheimeri, R. lindheimeri var. parvifolia
Synonyms Polygalacalifornica nuttall Polygalalindheimeri a.
Name authority (Nuttall) J. R. Abbott: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 5: 134. (2011) (A. Gray) J. R. Abbott: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 5: 135. (2011)
Web links