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Milkwort

Polygala

Also called Falsepeas, Milkworts, Butterflybushes

Milkwort
Photo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0

Polygala is a large genus of plants, including annuals, perennials, shrubs and a few vines or trees, commonly called milkworts. Most grown ones are garden perennials or shrubs, such as Polygala x dalmaisiana; they like open, sunny sites and well-drained soil.

Family
Polygalaceae (Polygal family)
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water regularly while establishing, then allow the top of the soil to dry between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained, slightly acidic to neutral soil, often with added leaf mould or organic matter.
Temperature
10–25 °C suits most temperate species; protect tender shrubs below about 0 °C.
How easy
Moderate

About

Polygala is a large genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae. They are commonly known as milkworts or snakeroots. The genus is distributed widely throughout much of the world in temperate zones and the tropics. The genus name Polygala comes from the ancient Greek "much milk", as the plant was thought to increase milk yields in cattle.

How to grow it

Some species are valued in cultivation. Polygala × dalmaisiana, an evergreen shrub, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Where it grows

Polygala species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including large grizzled skipper.

Other Polygala plants

Chalk milkwort · Chinese Senega Root · Purple Broom · Polygala wattersii · Seneca Snakeroot

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Polygala by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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