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Photographer: Robert Bierman
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Family Polygalaceae
Polygala paucifolia Willd.
flowering-wintergreen, fringed polygala, gay-wings
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
paucifolia: with little foliage, literally "few-leaved"
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| Status: | Native |
| Plant: | erect, perennial, 3"-6" tall, evergreen forb; stems usually solitary; colony-forming rhizomes from small tubers |
| Flower: | rose-purple to white, 5-parted, 1/2"-3/4" wide, about as wide as long, 5 petal-like sepals with the 3 inner ones small and the 2 outer ones very large and wing-like; inflorescence of 1-4 long-stalked flowers in a very short, terminal cluster (raceme); blooms May-June |
| Leaf: | lower scale-like, 3-6 oval to elliptical ones near the top |
| Habitat: | moderate moisture to moist; forests |
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