| Author | L. | |
| Distribution | Present over nearly all of the Coastal Plain, and in most of the Piedmont; in the Mountains known only from the southern portion.
This is a Southern species with a wide range, occurring north to southern NJ and IA south to southern FL and central TX.
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| Abundance | Though it has been recorded from at least 65 counties, it is not a common species in NC, at least as compared with some other Polygala species like P. mariana and P. curtissii. It is fairly common in most of the Coastal Plain and the eastern Piedmont, infrequent in the central and western Piedmont, and uncommon in the southern Mountains. Despite it not being truly common anywhere, the website editors feel that its overall range in the state merits a State Rank of S5 instead of S4. | |
| Habitat | This is a species of mesic open country, in a wide array of habitats. It tends to grow in clay soil or in damp or compacted sandy soil, in powerline clearings, old fields, wooded borders, mafic glades/barrens, and drier portions of flatwoods and savannas. | |
| Phenology | Blooms in June and July, and fruits shortly after flowering. | |
| Identification | This is a rather odd and distinct Polygala from any others in the state. It is a distinctly glaucous plant (pale green to blue-green), waxy smooth, and wand-like, growing to about 1.5 feet tall, with few branches. The few stem leaves are fleshy, linear, and only about 1/2-inch long -- hardly noticeable at any distance. The few branches are long, topped by a narrow spike of flowers, about 1 inch tall, each flower being small and rosy-pink, but mostly only with a few in bloom at a time (hence one common name of Procession-flower). Thankfully, each flower has a tubular corolla with spreading tips, quite a bit different from the short flowers of the other species in the genus. Thus, to many biologists it might not even register as a Polygala species, and many of them wonder what genus of plant they have. At a distance, the slender look with a nearly naked stem can appear like a grass, unless the bright pink flowers are seen at the top. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
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| Other Common Name(s) | Procession-flower, Slender Milkwort | |
| State Rank | S4 [S5] | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FAC link |
| USACE-emp | FACU link |
