Polygala pallida
| Family: | Polygalaceae |
| Full name: | Polygala pallida E.Mey. |
| Location: | Farm Urikos (2416AC) |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | - |
| English common name(s): | - |
| Synonym(s): | Polygala leucocarpa Chodat Polygala okongavensis Dinter Polygala pearsonii Exell |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Herbaceous, branched near the base, filiform; leaves few, linear, tapering at base, obtuse; racemes terminal, spike-like, elongating, many-flowered; pedicels much shorter than the minute flowers; bracts oval, obtuse, persistent; alæ broadly elliptical, veiny, very obtuse, ant. sepals obovate or obcordate; keel crested, twice as long as the spathulate petals; capsule obcordate. A small annual (?), 2–3 inches high, or perhaps more; nearly allied to the following, but differing in bracts, sepals, petals, &c. The leaves are sometimes oblong and mucronulate. Flowers nearly sessile, whitish or white. Crest of the keel small, and but little cut. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora Capensis) Tender annual herb, usually up to 200 mm high, occasionally up to 0.35 m. Stems slender, hairless. Leaves linear, up to 40 x 2 mm, bright green, with thin texture. Flowers similar to pea flower; wing-like inner sepals pale lilac with indistinct brownish veins, about 4 mm long; upper and lateral petals poorly developed; lower petal fused, pinky-lilac. Flowering summer. This is a spindly plant that is often overlooked, especially when it carries no flowers. It generally grows on sandy-rocky soil on plains and hillslopes. In Namibia it has been recorded from Kaokoveld across to Etosha and down through the central areas as far south as Keetmanshoop, as well as in the Swakopmund and Karibib districts. It also occurs in Botswana. (from Wildflowers of the Central Highlands of Namibia, by Coleen Mannheimer) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Photographer: | AA Dreyer |
| Date of photograph: | 21 Jun 2018 |
| Camera make: | Canon |
| Camera model: | EOS 7D |
| Lens aperture: | f/10.0 |
| Shutter speed: | 1/400 s |
| ISO speed: | 500 |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
