Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Polygala curtissii
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Curtiss's Milkwort from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygala curtissii
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 106-01-007:
Polygala curtissii FAMILY Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Polygala curtissii
COMMON NAME:
Curtiss's Milkwort, Appalachian Milkwort
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_pocu5_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm060813_080
August Haywood County NC
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Leaves linear, linear-oblong, or narrowly oblanceolate, to 0.8"x0.15", per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm060813_099
August Haywood County NC
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm120804_266
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Flowers occur in a compact raceme with buds forming a small cone on top, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm120804_272
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
The wings are a pair of spreading sepals; the corolla tube 3 united petals, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm190825_0908
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm210807_2551_copy
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
Ben Geer Keys bgk1111_a
September
)
JK Marlow jkm060903_040
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Bracts persist after lower flowers fall, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_p_curtissii_scan
September
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_polygala_curtissii_6
September
Flowers in a dense cylindric raceme, a compact head similar to clover, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow s060903_k
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Erect annual to 16" tall, freely branched, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow s060903_l
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow s060903_n
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm121027_813
October Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Polygala curtissii
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygala curtissii
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 106-01-007:
Polygala curtissii
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Polygala curtissii
1111
Forb
Annual
Habitat: mafic barrens, old fields, thickets, openings, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in Coastal Plain)
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Pinkish
Bisexual
Bilaterally symmetrical
5 sepals (three small, two larger petaloid "wings")
3 petals united into a tube
8 stamens united to corolla tube in 2 rows
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p148
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p046
- Guide to the Plants of Granite Outcrops (Murdy & Carter, 2000) p68
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p316
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p045
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p136
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p286
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p162
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p198
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p092
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p333