Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Senega curtissii
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Curtiss's Milkwort from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygala curtissii
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 10 (2021)
Polygala curtissii
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Polygala curtissii
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Polygala curtissii
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 106-01-007:
Polygala curtissii FAMILY Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Polygala curtissii
COMMON NAME:
Curtiss's Milkwort, Appalachian Milkwort
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_pocu5_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm060813_080
August Haywood County NC
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Leaves linear, linear-oblong, or narrowly oblanceolate, to 0.8"x0.15", per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm060813_099
August Haywood County NC
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm120804_266
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Flowers occur in a compact raceme with buds forming a small cone on top, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm120804_272
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
The wings are a pair of spreading sepals; the corolla tube 3 united petals, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm190825_0908
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm210807_2551_copy
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
Ben Geer Keys bgk1111_a
September
)
JK Marlow jkm060903_040
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Bracts persist after lower flowers fall, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_p_curtissii_scan
September
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_polygala_curtissii_6
September
Flowers in a dense cylindric raceme, a compact head similar to clover, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow s060903_k
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Erect annual to 16" tall, freely branched, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow s060903_l
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow s060903_n
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm121027_813
October Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Senega curtissii
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygala curtissii
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 10
Polygala curtissii
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Polygala curtissii
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Polygala curtissii
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 106-01-007:
Polygala curtissii
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Polygala curtissii
1111
Forb
Annual
Habitat: mafic barrens, old fields, thickets, openings, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Pinkish
Bilaterally symmetrical
5 sepals (three small, two larger petaloid "wings")
3 petals united into a tube
8 stamens united to corolla tube in 2 rows
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p148
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p180
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p046
- Guide to the Plants of Granite Outcrops (Murdy & Carter, 2000) p68
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p316
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p045
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p136
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p286
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p162
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p198
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p092
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p333
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".