Plants photographed elsewhere in Namibia (not on Kyffhäuser)
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Polygala pallida E.Mey.


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Polygala pallida

Image 1
Habit
21 Jun 2018

Polygala pallida

Image 2
Unopened flowers
21 Jun 2018



Family: Polygalaceae
Full name: Polygala pallida E.Mey.
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
Content last updated: 18 Apr 2024


Note: The identification of some of the plants on this website is not 100% certain. Any comments will be highly appreciated. I would also be willing to supply higher resolution images upon request. Please contact me at the e-mail address given below.

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