Taxonomy
Family: Polygalaceae
Habitat
Dry prairies, fields, meadows, sandy flats, and open woods.
Associates
Distribution
Nova Scotia to MN, south to SC and LA, TX.
Morphology
Solitary, erect annual from a slender taproot to 40 cm. Leaves all similar, alternate, linear to linear-oblong or narrowly lanceolate, persistent. Racemes sessile or short peduncled, dense, head-like; flowers pink-purple to white or greenish; less than 11 mm long; wings glabrous, oval, blunt, with a defined midvein; corolla half as long as the wings, the petals not fused into a slender tube. Aril of the seed 2-lobed.
Notes
Flowers June to October
Wetland indicator: Facultative Upland
Found this growing on a moist hillside along a power line right-of-way.
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
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
Michael Hough © 2009 |