Polygala cruciata L.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Polygalaceae

• Scientific Name

  Polygala cruciata L.

• Description

  Species Description - Erect annual 1–3 dm, sometimes simple, but usually with a few decussate branches; lvs chiefly in whorls of 3 or 4, linear to oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, 1–4 cm × 1–5 mm, obtuse or rounded, often apiculate; racemes cylindric, 1–6 × 1–1.5 cm, rounded at the summit, usually sessile or nearly so; fls pale rose-purple or greenish-purple; wings deltoid, 3–4 mm wide at base, 4–6 mm long, terminating in a slender cusp 0.5–1.5 mm; 2n=36, 40. Damp or wet soil, marshes, pine-barrens, etc., chiefly but not wholly on the coastal plain; Me. to Fla. and Tex., also in Ky. and from O. and Mich. to Ill. and Minn. July–Sept. (P. ramosior)

• Common Names

  drum-heads