Senega sanguinea
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Polygala sanguinea.jpg
| status = G5
| status_system = TNC
| genus = Senega
| species = sanguinea
| authority = *L.) J.F.B.Pastore & J.R.Abbott
| synonyms =
- Polygala sanguinea L.
- Polygala nuttalliana F.Dietr.
- Polygala purpurea Nutt.
- Polygala viridescens L.
}}
Senega sanguinea, commonly known as purple milkwort,{{PLANTS|id=POSA3|taxon=Polygala sanguinea|accessdate=11 October 2015}} field milkwort,{{cite web |title=Field Milkwort (Polygala sanguinea) |url=https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/field_milkwortx.htm |website=www.illinoiswildflowers.info}} or blood milkwort{{cite web |title=Polygala sanguinea (blood milkwort, purple milkwort): Go Botany |url=https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/polygala/sanguinea/ |website=gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org}} is an annual species of plant in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It is native to central and eastern North America.
Description
S. sanguinea grows to a height of {{convert |4-12|in|cm|0| order=flip|}}. The plant has a single, generally unbranched, hairless stem that terminates in a spike-like dense raceme of flowers that is approximately {{convert |1|in|cm|0| order=flip|}} long and {{convert |.5|in|cm|1| order=flip|}} across. The flowers are pink, green, or occasionally white. After blooming, the flowers are replaced by 2 hairy seeds within a capsule.[http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/field_milkwortx.htm Polygala sanguinea] at Illinois Wildflowers The leaves are widely spaced along the stem, alternate, and linear or narrowly elliptical.{{cite book |last1=Denison |first1=Edgar |title=Missouri Wildflowers |date=2017 |publisher=Conservation Commission of the State of Missouri |isbn=978-1-887247-59-7 |pages=68}} When crushed, the root of the plant smells of wintergreen.{{cite web |title=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin |url=https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=POSA3 |website=www.wildflower.org}}
Distribution and habitat
The plant is native to widespread areas of eastern North America. It is native in the United States from New Mexico to the west, the Canadian border to the north, Texas to the south, and the coast to the east (except in Florida). In Canada, it is native in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.{{BONAP|ref|genus=Polygala|species=sanguinea|accessdate=21 January 2017}}
S. sanguinea is it generally found in wet, acidic soils in open areas such as prairies and fields.