Polygala myrtifolia var. pinifolia flower showing a long keel

    Polygala myrtifolia var. pinifolia flower showing a long keel
    Author: Ivan Lätti
    Photographer: Thabo Maphisa

    The flowers of Polygala myrtifolia var. pinifolia grow in few-flowered racemes on short pedicels from leaf axils and at branch tips. Blunt bracts are found at the flower base. The lateral sepals are heart-shaped to obliquely ovate with obtusely angled tips. The keel or lower petal is long and markedly curved, ending in a whitish brush, the apical crest that is the hallmark of flowers of the genus. The keel is white here with some purple near the tip.

    The flowers of the species may also sometimes be white according to one source. A green, pointed sepal is visible in the photo.

    Flowering occurs from midwinter to midspring. One of the common names, Augustusbos, refers to the peak of the blooming season (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; JSTOR).

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