| Author | Spach | |
| Distribution | Present over most of the Mountains, and scattered over most of the Piedmont, east to Granville, Wake, and Montgomery counties.
This is a somewhat Northern species, ranging from southern Canada south to SC and OK.
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| Abundance | Declining in recent decades, for unknown reasons. Now mostly uncommon in the Mountains, and rare in the Piedmont. This is a State Special Concern species. | |
| Habitat | This is a species of dry to mesic, circumneutral soil, usually in partial sun. It grows in openings in upland woods, wooded borders, and in mafic glades and barrens. |
| Phenology | Blooms from April to June, and fruits soon after flowering. | |
| Identification | This is a typical Senega, growing to about 10-12 inches tall. This species has wider leaves than nearly all others in the genus, being alternate, generally elliptic, about 2 inches long and about 2/3-inch wide; most others in the genus have linear leaves. Thus, this species appears "leafy" as compared with others. The top of the stem (or any branches) contains the spire-like raceme, about 2 inches long and quite narrow, but in the species the small and densely-packed flowers are white to greenish-white, rather than rose to pink. At first glance, it looks quite like a small and upland species of smartweed. Thankfully, when found, it often grows in somewhat dense patches, and is quite striking with its white spires of flowers. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Weakley (2024) recognizes two varieties -- S. officinalis var. 1 is the former Polygala senega var. senega, and S. officinalis var. 2 is the former P. senega var. latifolia.
All of the former Polygala species in NC have now been moved to the genus Senega in 2023. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | None | |
| State Rank | S2 [S2S3] | |
| Global Rank | G4G5 | |
| State Status | SC-V | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
