Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Polygala lutea
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Orange Milkwort from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygala lutea
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 10 (2021)
Polygala lutea
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Polygala lutea
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Polygala lutea
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 106-01-014:
Polygala lutea FAMILY Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Pilostaxis lutea
SYNONYMOUS WITH -
Pylostachya lutea
COMMON NAME:
Orange Milkwort, Red-hot-poker, Candyroot, Yellow Bachelor's-buttons
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_polu_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm090516_007
May Berkeley County SC
Seewee Visitor & Environmental Education Center
Small orange-yellow flowers in a dense head, per Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977).
)
JK Marlow jkm090516_013
May Berkeley County SC
Seewee Visitor & Environmental Education Center
)
JK Marlow jkm090516_019
May Berkeley County SC
Seewee Visitor & Environmental Education Center
)
Pat Bright jeb_greenswamp062808_07
June Brunswick County NC
Green Swamp
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_polygala_lutea_19
July
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_polygala_lutea_3_s
July
Stems 6-15" tall with fleshy leaves typically widest near their tips, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_polygala_lutea_4
July
)
JK Marlow jkm091017_131
October Sumter County SC
Manchester State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm151121_035
November Mecklenburg County NC
UNCC McMillan Greenhouse
)
JK Marlow jkm151121_042
November Mecklenburg County NC
UNCC McMillan Greenhouse
)
Tim Spira tpsplutea
Month Unknown
Compact 0.5"-1.5" racemes terminate stems and branches, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Polygala lutea
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Polygala lutea
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 10
Polygala lutea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Polygala lutea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Polygala lutea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 106-01-014:
Polygala lutea
FAMILY
Polygalaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Pilostaxis lutea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
-
Pylostachya lutea
1952
Forb
Biennial/Short-lived perennial
Habitat: Wet pine savannas, ditches, bogs, other wet areas, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Coastal Plain (rare elsewhere)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal rosette & alternate (reduced upward)
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Orange
Bilaterally symmetrical
5 sepals (three small, two larger petaloid "wings")
3 petals united into a tube
6 stamens united to corolla tube in 2 rows
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p218
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p260
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p366
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p048
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p443
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p178
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p044
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p136
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p287
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p199
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".