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POLYGALACEAE MILKWORT FAMILY

Robert E. Preston & Thomas L. Wendt

[Annual] perennial herb, subshrub, shrub [ tree, vine]; hairs unbranched.
Leaf: simple, generally alternate ( opposite or whorled); veins pinnate; margin generally ± entire; stipules generally 0.
Inflorescence: raceme, spike, or panicle.
Flower: bisexual, generally bilateral and ± pea- flower-like [or ± radial]; sepals 5, fused or not, lateral or inner pair generally larger and petal-like (called wings); petals 5[3], fused to stamen tube, [± similar or] different with 1 lower keel petal, 2 strap-like upper petals, and 2[0] lateral petals; stamens 3–10, ± fused, tube open at top; ovary chambers 1–8 with 1 ovule each, style 1 or 0.
Fruit: capsule [ drupe or nut; occasionally winged].
Seed: often with aril.
20 genera, 1000 species: especially tropics, subtrop; few cultivated. [Persson 2001 Taxon 50:763–779] —Scientific Editors: Bruce G. Baldwin.

POLYGALA MILKWORT
Root odor generally wintergreen.
Inflorescence: raceme or spike, occasionally grouped and panicle-like; cleistogamous flowers occasionally solitary.
Flower: bilateral; lateral 2 sepals enlarged; petals 3 or 5, keel petal generally with cylindric beak or fringed crest at tip; stamens 6–8, anthers dehiscent at tip, appearing 1-chambered; with nectary disk or gland; ovary chambers 2, stigma 2-lobed.
Fruit: capsule.
Seed: fusiform or ovoid, black, generally hairy, generally with prominent white aril on 1 end.
± 500 species: tropics, temperate. (Greek: much milk, some Eur species said to increase milk in cows) [Wendt 1979 J Arnold Arbor 60:504–514]

Key to Polygala

P. cornuta Kellogg
NATIVE
Generally from rhizome.
Leaf: 10–65 mm, linear to ovate.
Flower: wings ciliate, glabrous to puberulent, cream or ± green to pink; keel petal beak 0.5–2.5 mm, entire, ± 0.2 mm diam near tip, dull rose to green when pollen shed.
Fruit: 5.9–10 mm including stalk, dark yellow-brown.
Seed: 4.5–7.3 mm incl hairs; aril hairy.
2n=18. [Online Interchange]

P. cornuta var. cornuta SIERRA MILKWORT
NATIVE
Subshrub.
Stem: prostrate to erect, 1–10 dm.
Leaf: length generally ± 2 × width.
Flower: 8.5–14 mm; upper sepal generally acute or acuminate, outer sepals and wings cream or ± green to pink in bud, wings densely puberulent.
Moist to dry, open areas in chaparral, woodland, conifer forest, occasionally on serpentine; 150–1830 m. Klamath Ranges, Cascade Range, n&c Sierra Nevada, s High Sierra Nevada (uncommon), w Modoc Plateau. A population in Mariposa Co. has glabrous flowers. May–Sep [Online Interchange]

Previous taxon: Polygala cornuta
Next taxon: Polygala cornuta var. fishiae

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Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) [year] Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/IJM.html [accessed on month, day, year]
Citation for an individual treatment: [Author of taxon treatment] [year]. [Taxon name] in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, [URL for treatment]. Accessed on [month, day, year].

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Bioregions in which taxon occursRed area (if present) is the part of the bioregion lying between the upper and lower elevation limits of the taxon;
markers link to CCH specimen records. If the markers are obscured, reload the page [or change window size and reload]. Yellow markers indicate records that may have georeferencing or identification issues.
map of distribution 1

Chart based on elevation range in Manual and elevations and coordinates of CCH records.
Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria.
Note: About half of the CCH records include both elevation and coordinates.
Map made in collaboration with Scott Loarie. Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria.
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CCH collections by month

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa.
Blue line denotes Manual flowering time.