Polygala senega - (image 1 of 5)
Taxonomy
Family: Polygalaceae
Habitat
Dry, often gravelly, prairies.
Associates
Aster ericoides, Aster laevis, Cirsium discolor, Comandra umbellata, Coreopsis palmata, Dodecatheon meadia, Euphorbia corollata, Heuchera richardsonii, Hypoxis hirsuta, Lespedeza capitata, Liatris aspera, Lithospermum canescens, Oxalis violacea, Parthenium integrifolium, Pedicularis canadensis, Petalostemum purpureum, Phlox pilosa fulgida, Silphium terebinthinaceum, Solidago rigida, Sorghastrum nutans, Sporobolus heterolepsis, Stipa spartea, Zizia aptera, Zizia aurea.
Distribution
Most states east of the Rockies, absent from the southernmost states and VT.
Morphology
Low, herbaceous perennial. Leaves alternate, lanceolate to oblong, more than 3 times longer than wide, less than 1.5 cm wide. Stems several to numerous. Flowers white, in dense, elongate racemes, sessile or subsessile on pedicels less than 1mm long; sepals 5, the laterals wing-like; petals 3, forming a tube.
Notes
Flowers mid May to early July
Wetland indicator: Facultative
These plants were growing in the gravel adjacent to some defunct railroad tracks.
References
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
|
Michael Hough © 2005 |