OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Polygala cymosa   FAMILY Polygalaceae   Go to FSUS key


SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygala cymosa   FAMILY Polygalaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 106-01-017:

Polygala cymosa   FAMILY Polygalaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Pilostaxis cymosa

 

COMMON NAME:
Tall Pinebarren Milkwort


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Polygala cymosa, Tall Pinebarren Milkwort

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_pocy_001_lvd

        

image of Polygala cymosa, Tall Pinebarren Milkwort

Alan S. Weakley    asw_698376468712152

April        FL

Apalachicola National Forest

Flowers tiny, with 2 "wings" (sepals) & 3 joined petals forming a tiny tube with fringed tip, per Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019).

image of Polygala cymosa, Tall Pinebarren Milkwort

Keith Bradley    kab_polygala_cymosa_76935

May    Palm Beach County    FL

Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area

Erect single-stemmed annual with leafy stem and branched inflorescence, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).

image of Polygala cymosa, Tall Pinebarren Milkwort

Jerry Bright    jeb_072608_045

July    Charleston County    SC

Francis Marion National Forest

Flowers in congested heads that terminate the branches of a showy cyme, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).

image of Polygala cymosa, Tall Pinebarren Milkwort

Jerry Bright    jeb_072608_046

July    Charleston County    SC

Francis Marion National Forest

image of Polygala cymosa, Tall Pinebarren Milkwort

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_polygala_cymosa_2

July        

Mature plants typically 2-4' tall (vs. P. ramosa rarely over 18"), per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).

image of Polygala cymosa, Tall Pinebarren Milkwort

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_polygala_cymosa_6

August        

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Polygala cymosa   FAMILY Polygalaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygala cymosa   FAMILY Polygalaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 106-01-017:
Polygala cymosa   FAMILY Polygalaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Pilostaxis cymosa

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

2987

Forb
Biennial

Habitat: Pond-cypress savannas, Coastal Plain depression ponds, clay-based Carolina bays, other sites with seasonally flooded hydrology, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common in Coastal Plain of GA & SC, uncommon in NC

map
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

LEAVES:
Simple
Basal rosette (often absent or withered at flowering)

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Light yellow
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:
Spring/Summer
Capsule

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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