Polygala mariana
Polygala balduinii
Maryland milkwort
Baldwin's milkwort
erect, glabrous or sparsely pubescent distally, hairs incurved.
erect, glabrous.
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.
with basal rosette sometimes present at anthesis, sometimes withered or nearly so; alternate;
sessile or subsessile;
basal blade obovate, to 12 mm wide, cauline blade obovate, elliptic, or narrowly spatulate, sometimes becoming linear distally, 3–25 × 1–5 mm, base cuneate or acute, apex usually rounded proximally, acute to obtuse distally, surfaces glabrous.
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.
in cymose panicles, ± flat-topped, 1.5–12 × 2.5–6 cm; each stem with (3–)5–20(–40) racemose branches, 0.4–6 × 0.7–1.5 cm;
central one nearly sessile, lateral ones with peduncle to 2 cm;
bracts persistent, lanceolate-ovate.
1.5–3.5 mm, glabrous.
winged, 0.6–1.2 mm, glabrous.
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.
usually white or cream, sometimes greenish tinged, drying white to brownish green, corolla usually becoming pale yellowish apically, 3–6 mm;
sepals decurrent on pedicel, ovate, lanceolate, or linear-lanceolate, 1.6–2.5 mm;
wings narrowly ovate to slightly obovate or elliptic, 2.8–4.8 × 0.9–1.7 mm, apex narrowing into apical cusp, 0.6–0.8 mm;
keel 2–4 mm, crest 2-parted, with 3 2-fid (rarely entire) lobes on each side.
subglobose or ellipsoid, 1.5–2.3 × 1–2 mm, margins not winged.
depressed-suborbicular, 0.6–1 × 0.8–1.2 mm, margins not winged.
0.9–1.2 mm, pubescent;
aril 0.4 mm, lobes nearly vestigial to 1/3 length of seed.
0.5–1 mm, pubescent;
aril 0–0.4 mm, lobes absent, reduced to minute scales, or to 1/3–2/5 length of seed.
= 34.
= 64, 68.
Polygala mariana
Polygala balduinii
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.)
Plants from southern Florida have been recognized as var. carteri, based on their less robust stature and greener, less conspicuous inflorescences (R. R. Smith and D. B. Ward 1976). More specifically, extremes of var. carteri have more or less elongated racemes to 6 cm, bracts usually less than 2 mm, flowers cream to greenish white, seeds more than 0.6 mm, and arils a minute scale or absent, whereas extremes of var. balduinii have dense racemes to 3 cm, bracts usually more than 2 mm, flowers white, seeds less than 0.6 mm, and arils usually 0.2 mm (infrequently smaller). Such apparently distinctive features all intergrade and are not sharply geographically delineable; noting this, Smith and Ward stated that the northern limit of the variety was arbitrary.
Polygalaramosa is closely related to P. balduinii, despite the obvious contrast between the yellow-flowered (green when dry), loosely branched inflorescences of P. ramosa and the white or near-white, more compact inflorescences of P. balduinii. Hybrids occur and have been called P. balduinii var. chlorogena Torrey & A. Gray.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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