Boykin’s milkwort

Polygala boykinii var. sparsifolia Wheelock; P. boykinii var. suborbicularis R. W. Long; P. flagellaris Small; P. praetervisa Chodat

Herbs short-lived perennial, usually multi-stemmed, (1.5–)2–6 dm, infrequently branched distally; caudex thickened. Stems usually erect or decumbent, rarely prostrate, glabrous. Leaves whorled, at least proximally, to alternate distally; sessile or subsessile, rarely with narrowed petiolelike base to 1 mm; blade linear, elliptic, lanceolate, or obovate, 3–25 × 1–5 mm, base cuneate, margins sometimes erose, appearing toothed, apex often acute, sometimes obtuse or rounded proximally, surfaces glabrous. Racemes narrowly cylindric, 3–12(–15) × 0.4–0.8 cm; peduncle to 9 cm (elongate); bracts deciduous, lanceolate-ovate. Pedicels to 0.5 mm (to 1 mm in fruit), glabrous. Flowers white or greenish white, 2.5–3.2 mm; sepals ovate to elliptic, 1–1.3 mm; wings suborbiculate, broadly elliptic, or obovate, 2–3 × 1.5–2.5 mm, apex obtuse to bluntly rounded; keel 2–3 mm, crest 2-parted, with 2–4 lobes on each side. Capsules subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, 1.7–4 × (1.2–)2–3 mm, margins not winged. Seeds 1–2.5 mm, pubescent; aril 0.5–1.5 mm, lobes 1/3–2/3 length of seed. 2n = ca. 28, 96.

Flowering spring–summer. Open slopes, prairielike sites, cut-over oak-pine forests, limestone outcrops, flatwoods; 0–200 m; Ala., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., Tenn.; West Indies.

Polygala boykinii is highly variable, with numerous distinctive forms in southern Florida and the Caribbean, some of which may merit specific recognition.