Curtiss’s or Appalachian milkwort

Herbs annual, single-stemmed, 1–4 dm, usually branched distally; from taproot, some­times becoming fibrous root cluster. Stems erect, glabrous. Leaves alternate; sessile or subsessile; blade linear to linear-oblong or narrowly oblan­ceolate, 10–20 × 1–2 mm, base cuneate, apex acute, surfaces glabrous. Racemes capitate, 1–2 × 0.8–1.3 cm; peduncle to 5 cm (elongate); bracts persistent, lanceolate. Pedicels 1.3–2.8 mm, glabrous. Flowers usually pink or purple, rarely white, 3.2–5 mm; sepals ovate, 1.5–2 mm; wings elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 3–5 × 1–2 mm, apex acute, obtuse, or bluntly rounded; keel 2.5–2.7 mm, crest 2-lobed, with 2–4 lobes on each side. Capsules subglobose, (1.7–)2.5–3 × 2.5–3 mm, margins not winged. Seeds 1–1.5 mm, pubescent; aril 1–1.2 mm, lobes to 1/3 length of seed. 2n = 40.

Flowering summer–fall. Dry, sandy meadows, old fields, open woods; 0–1300 m; Ala., Del., D.C., Ga., Ky., Md., Miss., N.J., N.C., Ohio, Pa., S.C., Tenn., Va., W.Va.

Polygala curtissii is common in the southeastern United States, but rare in the northern part of its range in Ohio and Pennsylvania.