Spermatophyta: Dicotyledonae: Archichlamydeae: Fabales

Polygalaceae - Milkwort family

Exell, A.W. (1960) Polygalaceae Flora Zambesiaca 1(1)

Leistner, O.A. (2005) Seed plants of southern tropical Africa: families and genera SABONET Report No. 26 SABONET, Pretoria

Description of the family

Small trees, shrubs or perennial or annual herbs. Stipules usually 0, but sometimes present and if so, small and gland-like. Leaves alternate (in ours), simple, entire. Sepals 5; two lateral ones often petal-like (wings); two anterior ones sometimes joined. Petals 3-5. Stamens 5-8; filaments usually united in a slit tube. Ovary superior, 1- or 2-locular. Fruit (in ours) a capsule or a samara.

Worldwide: 17 genera and 950 species, ± cosmopolitan, but not in the W Pacific.

Mozambique: 3 genera and 33 taxa.

Links to genera: View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this family

Genus	Content
Carpolobia G. Don	Description
Polygala L.	Description, Image
Securidaca L.	Description, Image

Other sources of information about Polygalaceae:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Polygalaceae
Flora of Burundi: Polygalaceae
Flora of Caprivi: Polygalaceae
Flora of the DRC: Polygalaceae
Flora of Malawi: Polygalaceae
Flora of Mozambique: cultivated Polygalaceae
Flora of Rwanda: Polygalaceae
Flora of Zambia: Polygalaceae
Flora of Zimbabwe: Polygalaceae
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Polygalaceae

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Polygalaceae
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Polygalaceae
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Polygalaceae
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Polygalaceae
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Polygalaceae
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Polygalaceae
JSTOR Plant Science: Polygalaceae
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Polygalaceae
Wikipedia: Polygalaceae
Plants of the World Online: Polygalaceae
Tropicos: Polygalaceae