Polygala crenata
Rhodora 59: 53. 1957.
Herbs short-lived perennial (rarely biennial or annual), single or multistemmed, (1.2–) 2–3 (–3.5) dm, usually unbranched, rarely branched distally; from taproot or fibrous-root cluster. Stems erect, sometimes laxly so, to nearly decumbent, glabrous. Leaves alternate; sessile or subsessile, or with narrowed petiolelike base to 2 mm; blade obovate or elliptic, sometimes becoming scalelike proximally, (5–) 8–23 × (2–) 3–8 (–9) mm, base cuneate, apex rounded, obtuse, or acute, surfaces glabrous. Racemes loosely cylindric, open, elongate, 7–10 (–15) × 1–1.5 cm; peduncle 1–2 (–2.5) cm; bracts deciduous, ovate. Pedicels 3–4 (–5) mm, glabrous. Cleistogamous flowers present in racemes usually below, rarely just above, soil surface, sometimes in proximal leaf-axils later in season. Flowers pink to pale-purple, 4–6 mm; sepals ovate or elliptic, 1.1–2 mm; wings elliptic, ovate, or obovate, (3.3–) 4–5 × (1.5–) 2–2.7 mm, apex obtuse to bluntly rounded; keel 3–4 mm, crest 2-parted, with 2–4 entire or divided lobes on each side. Capsules broadly ellipsoid, 2–3.5 × 2–3 mm, margins narrowly winged, wings equal, crenate. Seeds 1.5–2 mm, pubescent; aril 1 mm, somewhat helmetlike, lobes to 1/4 length of seed.
Phenology: Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat: Wet flatwoods and savannas, sandy mesic hills, bogs, acidic swamps.
Elevation: 0–100 m.
Distribution
Ala., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., Tex.
Discussion
Polygala crenata is known only from the East Gulf Coastal Plain.
Selected References
None.