Senega nana
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Polygalanana.jpg
|genus = Senega
|species = nana
|authority = (Michx.) J.F.B.Pastore & J.R.Abbott
| synonyms_ref =
| synonyms = {{hidden begin|title = List}}
- Polygala lutea var. nana Michx.
- Polygala nana (Michx.) DC.
- Psilotaxis nana (Michx.) Raf.
- Pylostachya nana (Michx.) Raf.
- Polygala hyemalis Raf.
- Polygala nana var. humillima Chodat
- Polygala viridescens Walter
- Pylostachya hyemalis Raf.
{{hidden end}}
}}
Senega nana, commonly known as candyroot or low bachelors' buttons, is a small species of herbaceous plant native to the south-eastern United States. The root has a sweet liquorice flavor when it is chewed, but it is usually hidden underground until the plant flowers. The seeds of candyroot are dispersed by ants.
Taxonomy
French botanist André Michaux described candyroot as a variety of Polygala lutea in 1803.{{cite book|last=Michaux|first=Andreas |title=Flora boreali-americana :sistens caracteres plantarum quas in America septentrionali collegit et detexit Andreas Michaux|publisher=Levrault brothers|location=Paris, France|date=1803|volume=2|pages=54|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/410718}} Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle reclassified it as a species in 1824.{{cite book|last=De Candolle|first=Augustin Pyramus|title=Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis|publisher=Treuttel et Würtz|location=Paris, France|date=1824|volume=1|pages=328|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/154284}} The species name is the Latin word nanus "dwarf".
Description
Candyroot grows as a clumping herbaceous plant {{convert|10-15|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} tall,{{cite web|url=http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PONA2|title=Polygala nana|author=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center|date=2015|work=NPIN: Native Plant Database|publisher=University of Texas at Austin|accessdate=18 July 2015|location=Austin, TX}} more commonly {{convert|5-10|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} tall. Growing from the base of the plant are the spathulate (spoon-shaped) leaves, which are {{convert|1.5-5|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|0.4-2|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}} cm wide. The yellow flowerheads are composed of tiny flowers arranged in racemes, and are {{convert|2-4|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}} high by {{convert|1.5|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}} wide.{{cite book|author1=Godfrey, Robert K. |author2=Wooten, Jean W. |title=Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States: Dicotyledons|publisher=University of Georgia Press|date=2011|page=275|isbn=9780820342436|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gz0iVFmZR7YC&pg=PA275}}
They appear from April to June, from March to October in Alabama,{{cite book|author1=Blanche E. Dean |author2=Amy Mason |author3=Joab L. Thomas |title=Wildflowers of Alabama and Adjoining States|publisher=University of Alabama Press|year=1983|page=94|isbn=9780817301477|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E1fzaN_YJEoC&pg=PA94}} and year-round in the Everglades. The seeds are smaller than 1 mm in size. The edible root tastes of licorice.{{cite book|last=Hammer|first=Roger L.|title=Everglades Wildflowers: A Field Guide to Wildflowers of the Historic Everglades, including Big Cypress, Corkscrew, and Fakahatchee Swamps|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2015|page=143|isbn=9781493014590|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-S0aBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA143}}
Senega nana resembles Senega lutea, which is a taller plant. It also resembles the rare species P. smallii of Miami-Dade County, which has seeds longer than 1 mm.
Distribution and habitat
Senega nana is found across the south-eastern United States from far eastern Texas through Louisiana and Arkansas to Florida and north as far as the Carolinas.{{cite web|url=http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=Pona2|title=Polygala nana (Michx.) DC. Show All candyroot|last=Natural Resources Conservation Service|date=2015|work=Plants Database|publisher=USDA|accessdate=18 July 2015}} Arkansas, where it is found in Ashley, Bradley and Calhoun Counties, marks the northwestern limits of its range.{{cite book|last=Hunter|first=Carl G. |title=Wildflowers of Arkansas|publisher=University of Arkansas Press|date=2000|page=126|isbn=9780912456164|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TDYDNIAlbPwC&pg=PA126}}[http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Polygala%20nana.png Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map] It grows in moist soil in meadows or coniferous woodlands.