Purple milkwort
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated April 2019.
Scientific name: Polygala sanguinea L.
Common name(s): purple milkwort, field milkwort, blood milkwort, purple polygala, blood polygala
Link(s): USDA PLANTS Profile , NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- in flower, late July
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- branched individual
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- leaves
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- flowers at top, greenish to rose
Description:
-annual
-simple and alternate leaves
-“petals” are actually sepals; flowers are at the top of the inflorescence, very small and greenish to rose
- fused into a tube
-spike-like raceme
Habitat:
-moist
-meadows and fields
-anthropogenic areas
Sources:
Go Botany. 2020 “Polygala Sanguinea L.” Polygala Sanguinea (Blood Milkwort, Purple Milkwort): Go Botany, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/polygala/sanguinea/.