WHITE MILKWORT
File Size: 175 KB
 
Polygala alba  Nutt.
Mitchell County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 4-16 inches
Family: Polygalaceae - Milkwort Family
Flowering Period:   May, June, July
Also Called: White polygala.
Stems: Erect or ascending, slender, usually several, rarely branched, angled, glabrous.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, sessile, narrowly oblanceolate below to linear above, 1/4 to 1 inch long, less than 1/10 inch wide, glabrous; margins entire, sometimes curling under; lower leaves often clustered.
Inflorescences: Racemes, spike-like, 1 to 3 inches long, tapered toward tips, terminal, on long stalks.
Flowers: About 1/8 inch long, white with green centers; sepals 5, 2 lateral sepals larger and petal-like; petals 3, rounded, united into tube that is split on back and fused with stamens; stamens 8.
Fruits: Capsules, elliptic, 2-seeded; seeds tiny, dark, silky-hairy.
Habitat: Dry, rocky or sandy prairie hillsides, ravines, and thickets.
Distribution: Principally west 1/2 of Kansas.
Uses: Native Americans used the roots of white milkwort to treat earaches.
Comments: The name "milkwort" comes from an ancient belief that nursing mothers could increase lactation by eating plants of this genus.

White milkwort
63 KB
Barber County, Kansas
White milkwort
66 KB
Barber County, Kansas
White milkwort
123 KB
Mitchell County, Kansas
White milkwort
82 KB
Barber County, Kansas
White milkwort
193 KB
Barber County, Kansas
White milkwort
177 KB
Russell County, Kansas
White milkwort
111 KB
Mitchell County, Kansas
White milkwort
125 KB
Mitchell County, Kansas
White milkwort
164 KB
Russell County, Kansas
White milkwort
164 KB
Clark County, Kansas