Swamp milkwort

Polygala leptocaulis Torrey & A. Gray

Herbs annual, single-stemmed, (1–)2–5(–6) dm, branched distally; from taproot, usually quickly becoming fibrous root cluster. Stems erect, glabrous. Leaves alternate; sessile or subsessile; blade linear to subfiliform, 8–25 × 0.5–1 mm, base obtuse to cuneate, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces glabrous. Racemes cylindric, 1.5–13 × 0.5–0.6 cm; peduncle 0.5–1 cm; bracts deciduous, narrowly lanceolate-ovate. Pedicels 0.8–1 mm, glabrous. Flowers usually purplish pink or lavender-pink, rarely white, 1.6–2.2 mm; sepals ovate to narrowly lanceolate-ovate, 0.6–1 mm; wings obovate or elliptic, 1.5–2 × 0.8–1 mm, apex obtuse to bluntly rounded; keel 1.5–2 mm, crest 2-parted, with 2–3 lobes on each side. Capsules oblong to ellipsoid, 1.4–2 × 0.7–1.1 mm, margins not winged. Seeds 1–1.2 mm, pubescent; aril 0.1(–0.2) mm, lobes less than 1/8 length of seed.

Flowering spring–early summer. Savannas, pastures, bogs, open pine woods, pond margins; 0–100 m; Fla., La., Miss., Tex.; Mexico (Campeche, México, Michoacán, Tabasco, Veracruz); West Indies; Central America; South America.

Polygala appendiculata is part of a widespread complex in Latin America, potentially representing more than one evolutionary lineage. Even if found to be a single lineage, it is one with a complicated nomenclatural history (J. F. B. Pastore 2013).