California Milkwort

Description

Rhinotropis californica, synonym Polygala californica, is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family known by the common name California milkwort. It is native to southwestern Oregon and northern and central California, where it grows in the coastal mountain ranges in local habitat types such as chaparral and forest. It is a perennial herb producing spreading stems, generally decumbent in form, up to about 35 centimeters in maximum length, lined with narrow oval leaves each a few centimeter long. The upper inflorescences produce several open flowers, and there may be some closed, cleistogamous flowers lower on the plant. The open flowers have pink or white winglike lateral sepals with hairy edges. The petals are similar in color, the central one tipped with a white or yellow beak. The fruit is a flattened green capsule up to a centimeter long containing hairy seeds. Polygala is a large genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae. They are commonly known as milkworts or snakeroots. The genus is distributed widely throughout much of the world in temperate zones and the tropics. The genus name Polygala comes from the ancient Greek "much milk", as the plant was thought to increase milk yields in cattle. As traditionally circumscribed, Polygala includes annual and perennial plants, shrubs, vines, and trees. The roots often have a scent reminiscent of wintergreen. The leaf blades are generally undivided and smooth-edged, and are alternately arranged in most species. The inflorescence is a raceme or spikelike array of several flowers; the occasional species bears solitary flowers. The flower is bilateral in shape, with two large petal-like sepals on the sides, often called the "wings", and three smaller sepals behind.There are three petals in shades of reddish purple, yellow or white, which are joined at the bases. The lower of the three is the keel petal, which is "boat-shaped, cucullate (hood-like), or helmet-shaped". The keel petal may have a beak or a fringe on the tip. Stamens and style are within the curve of the keel petal. The fruit is a capsule, sometimes winged. It contains two seeds, which are usually black, hairy and tipped with a large white aril. No members of this genus are known to form nitrogen-fixing nodules.