| Gaywings | |
|---|---|
 | |
| At the Botanical Gardens at Asheville | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Polygalaceae |
| Genus: | Polygaloides |
| Species: | P. paucifolia |
| Binomial name | |
| Polygaloides paucifolia | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
| |
Polygaloides paucifolia, synonym Polygala paucifolia, [2] known as gaywings or fringed polygala, is a perennial plant of the family Polygalaceae.
Mature plants are 3 to 6 inches tall. [3] Stems are smooth, slender and green. Leaves are clustered at the top, appearing to be whorled, but they are not. Leaflets are oblong to lanceolate—narrow at the base with a pointed tip. Leaves have an entire margin and are thin.
Flowers are pink and white, blooming in April and May. [3] It grows in rich, moist woods. [4]
The species was first described, as Polygala paucifolia, by Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1802. In 2011, John Richard Abbott divided up part of the genus Polygala into more sharply defined genera. He placed P. paucifolia in Polygaloides as Polygaloides paucifolia. [5]
The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ca. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Over half of the species are in one genus, Polygala, the milkworts.
Polygala is a large genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae. They are commonly known as milkworts or snakeroots. The genus is distributed widely throughout much of the world in temperate zones and the tropics. The genus name Polygala comes from the ancient Greek "much milk", as the plant was thought to increase milk yields in cattle.
Polygaloides chamaebuxus, synonym Polygala chamaebuxus, the shrubby milkwort, is an ornamental plant in the family Polygalaceae. Its flowers are solitary or in pairs in the leaf axils. The inner two sepals, the wings, are upright and white to yellow, sometimes pinkish or purple. The keel petals are bright yellow, aging to brownish-red or purple. It is native to the Alps and the mountains of west-central Europe. It was known to be grown in cultivation in about 1658 and was illustrated by Carolus Clusius. It has been given the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Trillium undulatum, commonly called painted trillium, painted lady, or trille ondulé in French, is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. It is also known as smiling wake robin or striped wake-robin. The specific epithet undulatum means "wavy", which refers to the wavy edges of the flower petals. The plant is found from Ontario in the north to northern Georgia in the south and from Michigan in the west to Nova Scotia in the east.
Platanthera blephariglottis, commonly known as the white fringed orchid or white-fringed orchis, is a species of orchid of the genus Platanthera. It is considered to be an endangered species in Connecticut and Ohio, a threatened species in Florida, Maryland and Rhode Island, exploitably vulnerable in New York, and susceptible to be threatened in Québec.
Comesperma is a genus of shrubs, herbs and lianas in the family Polygalaceae. The genus is endemic to Australia. It was defined by the French botanist Jacques Labillardière in his 1806 work Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek words come ("hair") and sperma ("seed"), and relates to the seeds bearing tufts of hair. The genus is distributed over southern Australia, particularly in the southwest of Western Australia, where 19 species are found. 24 species have been described.
Polygala sanguinea, known as purple milkwort, field milkwort, or blood milkwort is an annual plant in the Polygalaceae (milkwort) family. It is native to central and eastern North America.
Polygala myrtifolia, the myrtle-leaf milkwort, is an evergreen 2–4 m tall South African shrub or small tree found along the southern and south-eastern coasts, from near Clanwilliam in the Western Cape to KwaZulu-Natal. It is a fast-growing pioneer plant, a typical fynbos component, and may be found on dunes, rocky places, along forest margins, beside streams, and in open grassland. It belongs to the milkwort family of Polygalaceae.
Hebecarpa rectipilis, synonym Polygala rectipilis, common name New Mexico milkwort, is a plant native to one county in New Mexico and to northeast Mexico. The type specimen was collected near the Town of Hillsboro in Sierra County, at an elevation of 1065 m.
Hebecarpa macradenia, synonym Polygala macradenia, the glandleaf milkwort, is a subshrub in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae) found in the Arizona Uplands of the Sonoran Desert. Its "odd" flowers are said to be "spectacularly beautiful" when viewed with a hand lens.
Polygala lutea, commonly known as orange- or yellow milkwort, is a plant in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae) native to pine-barren depressions and swamps in coastal areas of the southern and eastern the United States. It was first described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus.
Polygaloides is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae.
Polygala japonica is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It is native to Northeast, East and Southeastern Asia, as well as eastern Australia. It is a wiry and decumbent dwarf shrub with a height between 10 and 25 centimetres. Its stems have tiny curled hairs. Its leaves are 5 to 20 millimetres long and 3 to 10 millimetres wide. Its flowers are purple to mauve and 5 to 6 millimetres long. It flowers between October and December.
Polygala linariifolia is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It extends worldwide, including in the Australian states of New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia, however due to obscure taxonomic classifications and similarities and cross-overs between other Polygala species, it is difficult to confirm the exact identity of P. linariifolia and its distribution across the world including Australia.
Polygala rehmannii is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It is endemic to areas with an altitude below 1,160 metres (3,810 ft) in Southern Africa. It was first described by Robert Chodat in 1893.
Rhinotropis is a small genus in the family Polygalaceae. It was separated as a genus from Polygala by J. Richard Abbott in 2011. It is native to the south and west of the United States and to Mexico.
Hebecarpa is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae. Species are found from the southern United States through Mexico and Central America to western South America.
Polygala multiflora is a plant species in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It is native to Western Africa. It is an erect plant and is considered to be "probably 2 to 3 feet " though it can grow up to 6 feet (1.8 m) tall. Its stems are puberlouous and its leaves are 2 to 3 inches long and 1⁄6 inch (0.42 cm) wide. The flowers it produces are blue or purple. It was first written about was part of the Encyclopédie méthodique Botanique in 1804 by Jean Louis Marie Poiret.
Gymnospora is a genus of plants in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae) which is endemic to Brazil. It was first described as a subgenus of Polygala by Robert Chodat in 1891. It was separated into its own genera in 2013. Their flowers are 6 to 10 millimetres long and its pedicels are 2 to 8 millimetres long.
Polygala polygama, the racemed milkwort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygalaceae, native to eastern Canada and the central and eastern United States. A biennial reaching 50 cm (20 in), it has pink or purple flowers, and produces additional white cleistogamous flowers underground. It prefers sandy soils. It has simple leaves that are alternate in arrangement.
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