Flora of North America species comparison

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

Polygala mariana

Maryland milkwort
Habit Herbs annual, single-stemmed, 1.5–5 dm, unbranched or mostly branched distally (sometimes throughout); from taproot (or rarely fibrous root cluster).
Stems

erect, glabrous or sparsely pubescent distally, hairs incurved.
Leaves

alternate;

sessile or petiolate, petiole to 1 mm;

blade narrowly spatulate proximally to linear distally, (6–)10–20(–25) × (0.5–)1–2(–2.5) mm, base cuneate or acute, apex acute, surfaces glabrous or sparsely pubescent.
Racemes

capitate, (0.5–)1–3.5 × 0.6–1.1 cm;

peduncle 0.2–2 cm;

bracts usually deciduous, infrequently a few persistent, scattered, lanceolate-ovate.
Pedicels

1.5–3.5 mm, glabrous.
Flowers

pink or purple, 4–5.7 mm;

sepals elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, 0.8–1.8 mm;

wings ovate, elliptic, or obovate, 2.5–4.5(–5.2) × 1.1–3(–3.6) mm, apex acute to obtuse, often minutely apiculate;

keel 2.3–3.5(–4) mm, crest 2-parted, with2–4 lobes on each side.
Capsules

subglobose or ellipsoid, 1.5–2.3 × 1–2 mm, margins not winged.
Seeds

0.9–1.2 mm, pubescent;

aril 0.4 mm, lobes nearly vestigial to 1/3 length of seed.
2n

= 34.

Polygala mariana
Phenology Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Dry to moist, sandy meadows, bogs, savannas, open wet areas, open mixed pine-hardwoods.
Elevation 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; DE; FL; GA; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; NY; SC; TN; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Polygala mariana is polymorphic (for example, flower color and inflorescence and flower size); separation into discrete taxa has been unsuccessful. Some specimens resemble P. curtissii, which has persistent bracts and usually deeper pink flowers. The two species are largely allopatric, with P. mariana predominantlyon the coastal plain and P. curtissii more inland.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Polygalaceae > Polygala
Sibling taxa
P. alba, P. appendiculata, P. balduinii, P. boykinii, P. brevifolia, P. chapmanii, P. crenata, P. cruciata, P. curtissii, P. cymosa, P. glochidata, P. hemipterocarpa, P. hookeri, P. incarnata, P. leptostachys, P. lewtonii, P. lutea, P. nana, P. nuttallii, P. polygama, P. ramosa, P. rugelii, P. sanguinea, P. scoparioides, P. senega, P. setacea, P. smallii, P. verticillata, P. vulgaris, P. watsonii
Synonyms P. harperi
Name authority Miller: Gard. Dict. ed. 8, Polygala no. 6. (1768)
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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers