Whorled milkwort (Polygala verticillata)
Description
Tapering spikes to - inch long of small, white/greenish/pale pink flowers, each about 1/8 inch across and nearly stalkless. A flower is flanked bi-laterally by round winged sepals with three other sepals (one tipped with minute fringes) enclosing the central yellow flower column. Pink-tipped stamens surround the column. The flowers do not open widely giving the appearance of a bud or tiny bulblet. Flowers bloom from the bottom of the spike up. One plant may have several spikes, each at the end of branching stems.There are few lower leaves with most of the mature ones in whorls of 4 or 5 on the mid to upper stem and flowering branches, the uppermost leaves reduced to bracts. The linear, toothless, hairless, pointed leaves are not much over 1 inch long, no more than 3/8 inch wide, and stalkless. Stems are hairless, angled, branched - often oppositely - and while erect, may be supported by surrounding vegetation.Fruit is a slightly flattened, oval capsule containing small black seeds
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Fabales
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Family: Polygalaceae
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Genus: Polygala
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