Polygala cruciata |
Polygala setacea |
|
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cross-leaf milkwort, drum-heads milkwort, drumheads |
coastal-plain milkwort, scale-leaf milkwort |
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Habit | Herbs annual, single-stemmed, (0.5–)1–3(–5) dm, usually branched distally; from slender taproot. | Herbs annual or short-lived perennial, usually single-stemmed, sometimes 2 or 3 stems near base, 1–5 dm, usually branched distally; from taproot or, when perennial, sometimes with slender taprootlike caudex with persistent stem base. |
Stems | erect, usually glabrous, rarely subglabrous. |
erect, glabrous. |
Leaves | whorled, sometimes alternate distally; sessile or subsessile, or with narrow petiolelike base to 2 mm; blade mostly linear, to oblanceolate, spatulate, obovate, or narrowly elliptic, especially proximally, 8–35(–50) × 1–5(–7) mm, base cuneate to acute, apex rounded to obtuse or acute, surfaces glabrous. |
alternate; sessile; blade subulate, squamiform, 0.5–1.6(–2) × 0.3–0.7 mm, base obtuse, apex acute, surfaces glabrous. |
Racemes | capitate to densely cylindric, 1–3.5(–6) × 1–1.7 cm; peduncle 0.5–3(–5) cm; bracts persistent, narrowly lanceolate-ovate. |
cylindric, 0.4–3.5 × 0.3–0.5 cm; peduncle 0.1–0.5 cm; bracts deciduous, lanceolate. |
Pedicels | 2–2.4 mm, glabrous. |
0.2–0.5 mm, glabrous. |
Flowers | usually purple or pink, rarely white, wings and distal keel sometimes green-tinged, sepals often pink, 4–6 mm; sepals ovate, 0.8–1.5 mm, sometimes ciliolate; wings ovate to deltate, 3.5–6 × 2.7–4 mm, apex acuminate, often strongly cuspidate; keel 2.8–3.5 mm, crest 2-parted, with 2 or 3 entire or 2-fid lobes on each side. |
usually white, sometimes pinkish tinged, 1.8–2.7 mm; sepals ovate to lanceolate-ovate, 0.6–1(–1.5) mm; wings elliptic to obovate, 1.5–2.5 × 0.6–1.1 mm, apex usually obtuse to bluntly rounded, rarely acute, often minutely apiculate or cuspidate; keel 1.5–2.2 mm, crest 2-parted, with 2or 3 lobes on each side. |
Capsules | with winged, stipelike base, strongly oblique, subglobose, 2–2.5 × 1.8–2.1 mm, margins not winged. |
ovoid to ellipsoid, 1.7–2.2 × 1.2–1.5 mm, margins not winged. |
Seeds | 1.1–1.5 mm, short-pubescent; aril 0.9–1.1 mm, lobes usually 2/3+ length of seed, rarely shorter or absent. |
0.8–1.2 mm, pubescent; aril vestigial. |
2n | = 36, 40. |
|
Polygala cruciata |
Polygala setacea |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring–fall. | Flowering year-round. |
Habitat | Wet meadows, marshes, savannas, bogs, pocosins, sand dunes. | Moist to somewhat dry flatwoods, pine-palmetto woodlands, margins of seepage bogs. |
Elevation | 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.) | 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WI; WV
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FL; GA
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Discussion | Polygalacruciata var. aquilonia is usually a more northern form with broader leaf blades, shorter peduncles, narrower racemes, and more abruptly short-acuminate wing apices (versus strongly cuspidate and acuminate) than the more southern var. cruciata. Extreme forms can appear distinctive. However, in the absence of detailed populational study, these traditionally recognized varieties of P. cruciata do not merit taxonomical recognition at any rank. This species was known from Ontario but appears to be extirpated from Canada. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The protologue description of Polygala setacea with “in Carolina septentrionali” is the likely source of later reports of the species occurring in the Carolinas, (for example, J. K. Small 1933; R. W. Long and O. Lakela 1971; R. K. Godfrey and J. W. Wooten 1981). There are no known specimens from either of the Carolinas; the locality reported by Michaux may be erroneous. Small reported Polygala setacea also from Mississippi; no supporting specimens are known. The presence of this species in Mississippi or either of the Carolinas would represent a disjunction from the range documented by known vouchers. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 10. | FNA vol. 10. |
Parent taxa | Polygalaceae > Polygala | Polygalaceae > Polygala |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. aquilonia, P. cruciata subsp. aquilonia, P. cruciata var. aquilonia, P. ramosior | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 706. (1753) | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 52. (1803) |
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