Gaywings
At the Botanical Gardens at Asheville
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Polygalaceae
Genus: Polygaloides
Species:
P. paucifolia
Binomial name
Polygaloides paucifolia
(Willd.) J.R.Abbott[1]
Synonyms[1]
  • Polygala commutata Sweet
  • Polygala paucifolia Willd.
  • Polygala purpurea W.T.Aiton
  • Polygala uniflora Michx.
  • Trichlisperma grandiflorum Raf.
  • Trichlisperma paucifolium (Willd.) Nieuwl.
  • Triclisperma grandiflora Raf.
  • Triclisperma paucifolia (Willd.) Nieuwl.

Polygaloides paucifolia, synonym Polygala paucifolia,[1] known as gaywings or fringed polygala, is a perennial plant of the family Polygalaceae.

Mature plants are 3 to 6 inches tall.[2] Stems are smooth, slender and green. Leaves are clustered at the top, appearing to be whorled, but they are not. Leaflets are oblong to lanceolate—narrow at the base with a pointed tip. Leaves have an entire margin and are thin.

Flowers are pink and white, blooming in April and May.[2] It grows in rich, moist woods.[3]

The species was first described, as Polygala paucifolia, by Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1802. In 2011, John Richard Abbott divided up part of the genus Polygala into more sharply defined genera. He placed P. paucifolia in Polygaloides as Polygaloides paucifolia.[4]

Gaywings on Mackinac Island, Michigan

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Polygaloides paucifolia (Willd.) J.R.Abbott". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  2. 1 2 Carman, Jack B. (2001). Wildflowers of Tennessee. Highland Rim Press. p. 163.
  3. ↑ "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  4. ↑ Abbott, J. Richard (2011). "Notes on the disintegration of Polygala (Polygalaceae), with four new genera for the Flora of North America". Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. 5 (1): 125–137. JSTOR 41972495.
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