Polygala polifolia (PROSEA)
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Introduction |
Polygala polifolia Presl
- Protologue: Rel. Haenk. 2: 101 (1835).
- Family: Polygalaceae
Synonyms
- Polygala brachystachya DC. (1824).
Distribution
Distributed from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India to China, Taiwan, and throughout South-East Asia to northern Australia and Micronesia. In Malesia occurring in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, Moluccas, the Philippines and New Guinea; perhaps on Java.
Uses
The root is known for its expectorant action, and is widely used for coughs, asthma, pulmonary catarrh and bronchitis.
Observations
- An annual, erect to prostrate, branched, hairy herb, up to 50(-70) cm tall.
- Leaves elliptical to lanceolate, 2-20 mm × 1-7 mm, apex acute to mucronate.
- Raceme supra-axillary, up to 1 cm long, few-flowered and cluster-like, bracts persistent, minute, acute, ciliate.
- Flowers 2.5-3(-3.5) mm long, sepals lanceolate, acuminate, ciliate, wings asymmetrical, 5-veined, green to partly red, upper petals spathulate, pale to deep blue, turning violet, emarginate, shorter than the keel, keel auriculate, appendages in 2 bundles, filiform, staminal tube split halfway, with 2 single filaments and 2 bundles of 3 fully connate filaments with sessile anthers, ovary broadly elliptical, ciliate, style curved in upper half, apically widened, stunted, at one side with a sterile tip, at the inner side with a stigmatic lobe.
- Capsule shorter and wider than the wings, orbicular, 1.5 mm long, notched, very narrowly winged, ciliolate.
- Seed oblong, at micropylar side with an unequally 3-lobed aril, black, hairy.
P. polifolia occurs along roadsides, in grasslands and waste places, from sea-level up to 750(-1800) m altitude. Taxonomically, it has long been confused with P. chinensis.
Selected sources
- [74] Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1964—1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1964) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
- [215] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948—1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.74, 215.
Main genus page
Authors
- Rina R.P. Irwanto