Polygala lutea

Get help with this component

Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Species Distribution Map
Family:POLYGALACEAE
Species:Polygala lutea L.
Common Name:Orange Milkwort; Candyweed; Bog Bachelor's Button
Habitat:**
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Herb
Duration:Biennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:POLU
Plant Notes:Orange Milkwort is an herbaceous annual or biennial in the Milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It is found in the southern half of Alabama. Orange Milkwort occurs in moist pine or hardwood forests, in bogs, in roadside ditches, and in seeps. It is an annual or biennial with a tap root. There are one to several stems from each base. The stems are from 4-6 inches in length, and may be branched in the upper half. The stems are erect to ascending, green in color, and glabrous. Leaves are basal and cauline. The basal leaves from an irregular rosette that may not be present at flowering. Stem leaves are alternate, obovate to spatulate in outline, glabrous, and entire. The leaves are almost succulent to the touch. Flowers are produced in dense terminal head-like racemes. An alternative common name for this species is “Bog Cheetos”. The individual flowers have 3 small sepals and two larger petal-like sepals (wings) that are bright orange in color. The 3 petals are united into a tube with a crest of 4 lobes. The fruit is a capsule. The seed have an elaiosome (fleshy often oily appendage) that is an adaptation for ant dispersal of the seed. The species name for this plant (lutea) means yellow. This may seem odd for a plant with bright orange flowers. However, the flowers turn yellow when dried and Linnaeus described the species from dried pressed material. Orange Milkwort is rarely offered for sale by nurseries that specialize in bog plants. It requires a wet acidic soil and full sun.--A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Native
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyPOLYGALACEAE - Milkwort family
Genus Polygala
Species Polygala lutea L. - Orange Milkwort; Candyweed; Bog Bachelor's Button

Citation

Citation Polygala lutea Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 705. 1753.
Basionym: **
Type: USA: VIRGINIA: Without data, Kalm s.n. (lectotype: LINN 822.39). Lectotypified by R. R. Smith & D.B. Ward, Sida 6: 302. 1976.

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Pilostaxis lutea Pilostaxis lutea (Linnaeus) Small, Man. S.E. Fl. 774, 1505. 1933.Polygala lutea Linnaeus 1753. 
Polygala lutea var. elatior Polygala lutea Linnaeus, var. elatior Michaux, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 54. 1803, nom. inadmiss.Polygala lutea Linnaeus 1753. 
Polygala lutea var. paucifolia Polygala lutea Linnaeus, var. paucifolia Rafinesque, New Fl. 4: 90. 1838 ("1836").  
Polygala pseudosenega Polygala pseudosenega Bertoloni, Mem. Reale Sci. Ist. Bologna 5: 440. 1854.  
Pylostachya lutea    

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Clarke, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Escambia, Geneva, Houston, Lee, Macon, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Pike, Russell, Washington

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AUA, JSU, SAMF, TROY, UNA, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1950 - 1980

Barcode / Accession No.
County
Coll. Date
Collector &
Collection No.
Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used
Image
TROY000022228 Autauga 26 May 2006 Spaulding, Daniel D.
12452		 TROY
Polygala lutea Linnaeus
SAMF0000966 Autauga 18 May 2011 Davenport, Lawrence J.
4701		 SAMF
Polygala lutea Linnaeus
AUA_ACC_3208 Baldwin 20 Apr 1923 G.R.J.
 AUA
POLYGALA LUTEA L.
UNA00009702 Baldwin 11 Apr 1952 Chermock, Ralph L.
s.n.		 UNA
Polygala lutea L.
AUA_ACC_3207 Baldwin 18 Apr 1953 BENNETT, ORUS L.
 AUA
POLYGALA LUTEA L.
AUA_ACC_5321 Baldwin 11 May 1962 BASS, M.H.
 AUA
POLYGALA LUTEA L.
AUA_ACC_13253 Baldwin 29 Apr 1967 RANKIN, H.TAYLOR
140		 AUA
POLYGALA LUTEA L.
AUA_ACC_13615 Baldwin 29 Apr 1967 DENT, D.M.
 AUA
POLYGALA LUTEA L.
AUA_ACC_11696 Baldwin 29 Apr 1967 BARRICK, WILLIAM E.
 AUA
POLYGALA LUTEA L.
AUA_ACC_5880 Baldwin 27 Jul 1968 WILLIS, ROBERT L.
 AUA
POLYGALA LUTEA L.
First Page Previous Page Next Page Last Page
Records per Page: