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Polygalaceae Habit: [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. Genera In Family: 29 genera, 1000 species: especially tropics, subtropics, few cultivated. Jepson eFlora Author: Robert E. Preston & Thomas L. Wendt Reference: Wendt 1978 A systematic study of Polygala section Rhinotropis (Polygalaceae). Ph.D. diss., Univ. Texas Unabridged Reference: Persson 2001 Taxon 50:763--779 Scientific Editor: Bruce G. Baldwin. Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Saltugilia splendens subsp. splendens Next taxon: Rhinotropis |