Photographer: Robert Bierman
Polygala paucifolia Willd.
flowering-wintergreen, fringed polygala, gay-wings
Polygala: from Greek polys, "many or much," and gala, "milk," since it was thought that the presence of some of the species in a pasture increased the yield of milk
paucifolia: with little foliage, literally "few-leaved"
|Plant: ||erect, perennial, 3"-6" tall, evergreen forb; stems usually solitary; colony-forming rhizomes from small tubers|
|Flower: ||rose-purple to white, 5-parted, 1/2"-3/4" wide, about as wide as long, 5 petal-like sepals with the 3 inner ones small and the 2 outer ones very large and wing-like; inflorescence of 1-4 long-stalked flowers in a very short, terminal cluster (raceme); blooms May-June|
|Leaf:||lower scale-like, 3-6 oval to elliptical ones near the top|
|Habitat: ||moderate moisture to moist; forests|