The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 21 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.
Polygala vulgaris, known as the common milkwort, is a herbaceous perennial plant of the genus Polygala in the family Polygalaceae.
Prunus andersonii is a species of shrub in the rose family, part of the same genus as the peach, cherry, and almond. Its common names include desert peach and desert almond. It is native to eastern California and western Nevada, where it grows in forests and scrub in desert and mountains. It was named after Charles Lewis Anderson by Asa Gray.
Arctostaphylos canescens, common name hoary manzanita, is a species of manzanita.
Rhinotropis californica, synonym Polygala californica, is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family known by the common name California milkwort. It is native to southwestern Oregon and northern and central California, where it grows in the coastal mountain ranges in local habitat types such as chaparral and forest. It is a perennial herb producing spreading stems, generally decumbent in form, up to about 35 centimeters in maximum length, lined with narrow oval leaves each a few centimeter long. The upper inflorescences produce several open flowers, and there may be some closed, cleistogamous flowers lower on the plant. The open flowers have pink or white winglike lateral sepals with hairy edges. The petals are similar in color, the central one tipped with a white or yellow beak. The fruit is a flattened green capsule up to a centimeter long containing hairy seeds.
Rhinotropis cornuta, synonym Polygala cornuta, is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family known by the common name Sierra milkwort. It is native to many of the mountain ranges of California and northern Baja California, where it grows in local habitat types such as chaparral and forest. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb or shrub known to exceed 2 meters in maximum height, spreading or growing erect. The leaves are linear, lance-shaped, or narrowly oval, up to 6.5 centimeters long, and widely spaced along the branches. The inflorescence is a short array of flowers varying in color from greenish or yellowish white to pink. Each has two winglike lateral sepals, and the keeled central petal is tipped with a short beak. The fruit is a brownish flattened capsule.
Rhinotropis heterorhyncha, synonym Polygala heterorhyncha, is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family known by the common names beaked spiny polygala and notch-beaked milkwort. It is native to southern Nevada and it is known from a few occurrences just over the border in the Funeral Mountains of California above Death Valley. It is a resident of desert scrub habitat. This desert plant is a perennial herb or small shrub growing in small clumpy mats. The thin, branching, thorny-tipped stems are somewhat waxy in texture and sometimes slightly hairy. They are lined sparsely with small oval, dull-pointed leaves. The inflorescence bears a few flowers, each with a winglike pair of bright pink sepals and a yellow-tipped central petal. The fruit is a vein-streaked capsule.
Rhinotropis subspinosa, synonym Polygala subspinosa, is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family known by the common name spiny milkwort. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows in desert and plateau habitat. It is a perennial herb or small shrub growing in a clump no more than 25 centimeters tall. The stems have woody bases and green, thorn-tipped branches. The leaves are up to 3 centimeters in length and generally oval in shape. The flowers have winglike pairs of bright pink sepals and the keeled central petal is tipped with a yellowish beak, sometimes fringed at the tip.
Polygala lewtonii is a rare species of flowering plant in the milkwort family known by the common name Lewton's polygala, or Lewton's milkwort. It is endemic to Florida in the United States, where it is limited to the central ridge of the peninsula. There are about 49 occurrences of the plant remaining. Most occurrences contain very few plants. The species is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. This is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Polygala smallii is a rare species of flowering plant in the milkwort family known by the common name tiny polygala, or tiny milkwort. It is endemic to Florida in the United States, where it is limited to the southeastern coast of the peninsula. The plant is now only known from eight sites, with most individuals located on one site in Miami-Dade County. The species is threatened by the loss of its habitat. This is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Polygala senega is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family, Polygalaceae. It is native to North America, where it is distributed in southern Canada and the central and eastern United States. Its common names include Seneca snakeroot, senega snakeroot, senegaroot, rattlesnake root, and mountain flax. Its species name honors the Seneca people, a Native American group who used the plant to treat snakebite.
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 costal areas of the southern and eastern the United States. It was first described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus.
Polygala africana is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It was first described in 1893.
Polygala maravillasensis is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It is native to Mexico and the United States.
Polygala nudata is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It is native to Mexico.
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.
Muraltia heisteria is a shrub in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae) which is native to South Africa and is cultivated in Australia. It was first described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus.
