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Polygala californica

California milkwort, milkwort

desert milkwort, thorny milkwort

Habit Herbs, sometimes suffrutescent, multi-stemmed, often forming a ground cover, 0.5–3.5 dm. Shrubs or subshrubs, single- to multi-stemmed, (1.5–)2–10(–12) dm.
Stems

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

sprawling to erect, densely pubescent to glabrate, hairs spreading and short.

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.

sessile or subsessile;

blade oblanceolate, narrowly obovate, or narrowly elliptic, 3–25 × 1–5 mm, base long-cuneate, apex rounded or acute, surfaces usually densely pubescent, rarely subglabrous, hairs spreading and short.

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, sometimes appearing axillary if poorly developed, sometimes aggregated into pseudopanicles or reduced and appearing fasciculate, 0.5–2.5 ×0.6–2 cm;

rachis thorn-tipped;

peduncle 0–0.2(–0.5) cm, often poorly developed;

bracts deciduous, lanceolate.

Pedicels

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

1.5–4(–5.8) mm, usually shorter than flowers, pubescent, sometimes sparsely so.

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.

cream to yellowish green, wings cream to greenish, upper petals often purple-tipped, distal keel often dark yellow to green, (3–)3.5–5(–5.3) mm;

sepals deciduous, ovate to elliptic, 1.6–3.5 mm, spreading-pubescent, margins usually ciliate;

wings obovate, 3–5 × 2–3 mm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent;

keel 2.7–3.8 mm, sac glabrous, beak absent or obscure and bluntly rounded, to 0.7 × 0.5 mm, glabrous;

stamens rarely 9.

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 or slightly obovoid, (3–)4–6 × 2.5–4 mm, base rounded or, sometimes, cuneate, margins with very narrow and even wing, glabrous.

Seeds

3.5–6 mm, densely pubescent;

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

3.2–4.2 mm, pubescent;

aril 1–1.7 mm, lobes to 1/3 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.

= 18.

Rhinotropis californica

Rhinotropis acanthoclada

Phenology Flowering spring–summer. Flowering (early spring–)spring–summer(–late fall).
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. Usually on loose silts or sands derived from limestone, granite, sandstone, or gypsum in open places or slopes in desert scrub or juniper woodlands.
Elevation 10–1400 m. [30–4600 ft.] 800–1800 m. [2600–5900 ft.]
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; UT
[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.)

In northern Arizona and southern Utah, Rhinotropis acanthoclada overlaps geographically with R. intermontana and tetraploid hybrids are known (T. L. Wendt 1978, 1979).

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

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. californica, R. cornuta, R. heterorhyncha, R. intermontana, R. lindheimeri, R. maravillasensis, R. nitida, R. nudata, R. rimulicola, R. rusbyi, R. subspinosa
Synonyms Polygalacalifornica nuttall Polygalaacanthoclada 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: 134. (2011)
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