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Photographer: Merel R. Black
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Family Polygalaceae
Polygala sanguinea L.
blood milkwort, field milkwort, purple milkwort
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
sanguinea: Latin for blood red
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| Status: | Native |
| Plant: | erect, annual, 4"-16" tall forb; stems usually solitary or branching towards the top |
| Flower: | rose-purple to white, 5-parted, 1/4"-1/3" wide, about half as long as wide, 5 petal-like sepals with the 3 inner ones small and the 2 outer ones large, wing-like, oval; inflorescence a 3/4" dense, terminal cluster (raceme), head-like, rounded to cylindrical up to 1/3" thick; blooms July-Sept. |
| Leaf: | linear to narrowly-elliptical |
| Habitat: | moist; woods, prairies, fields |
| (Glossary) |
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