Polygala cruciata - (image 1 of 5)
Taxonomy
Family: Polygalaceae
Habitat
Moist to wet marshes, pine barrens, mainly on the coastal plain but also inland.
Associates
Distribution
ME to FL and TX, also in KY and from OH and MI to IL and MN.
Morphology
Erect annual 10-30 cm, sometimes simple but usually with a few decussate branches; leaves mainly in whorls of 3 or 4, linear to oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, 1-4 cm long and 1-5 mm wide, obtuse or rounded at the apex, often apiculate; racemes cylindric, 1-6 cm long and 1-1.5 cm thick, rounded at the summit, usually sessile or nearly so; flowers pale rose-purple to greenish-purple; wings deltoid, 3-4 mm wide at the base, 4-6 mm long, terminating in a slender cusp 0.5-1.5 mm.
Notes
Flowers July to September
Wetland indicator: FACW
Similar to P. brevifolia but the inflorescence sessile or nearly so (vs. on a peduncle 2-8 cm) and larger wings (3-4 mm wide and cuspidate vs. 1.5-2.5 mm wide and not cuspidate). The name refers to the cross-like appearance of the whorl of leaves directly below the inflorescence.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
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Michael Hough © 2018 |