Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Polygaloides paucifolia
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more: Polygala paucifolia, Paw-paw, and Pinxter Azalea (periclymenoides) on Pinnacle Mountain in Pickens County, SC by Jim Fowler.
Read about Asemeia, Polygaloides, and Polygala from Alan Weakley and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Learn more about Gaywings from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygala paucifolia
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 106-01-001:
Polygala paucifolia
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
COMMON NAME:
Gaywings, Fringed Polygala
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_popa5_001_lvd
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JK Marlow jkm0504r_18
April Pickens County SC
Table Rock State Park
Scale-like leaves below, alternate oval leaves near stem's summit, per Wildflowers of Tennessee.
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JK Marlow jkm0504s_33
April Pickens County SC
Table Rock State Park
A low plant bearing 1-4 flowers, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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JK Marlow jkm0504t_14
April Pickens County SC
Table Rock State Park
)
Keith Bradley kab_p_paucifolia_5295
April Caldwell County NC
Pisgah National Forest
Corolla tube consists of 3 united petals; the "wings" are a pair of sepals, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Tim Spira tpsppaucifolia3
April
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Ben Geer Keys bgk1112_a
May
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Polygaloides paucifolia
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygala paucifolia
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 106-01-001:
Polygala paucifolia
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
1112
Forb
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common (rare in SC)
Look for it in moist forests, mostly at moderate to high elevations, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
...Moist
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Pink
(rarely white)
Bisexual
Bilaterally symmetrical
5 sepals (three small, two larger petaloid "wings")
3 petals united into a tube
6 stamens united to corolla tube in 2 rows
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers p036
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p141
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide p040
- Southern Appalachian Wildflowers p164
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p318
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States p045
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p135
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p163
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p200
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont p427
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p090