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Tennessee Native Plant Society
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Native Plant of the Month
January, 2008
Gaywings
Polygala pauciflora
This milkwort has the largest flowers found in the genus, measuring nearly 1.5 inches in diameter.
This is a northerly species which extends to Tennessee in the Blue Ridge Mountains and Cumberland
Plateau regions. It can be found in moist, rich woodlands in the spring.
Many people mistake this species for an orchid, but it is in the milkwort family, a group of plants noted
for their fringed floral tubes, conspicuous in this species. Folk tradition holds that adding these plants
to hay will greatly increase milk production in cattle, giving the common family name.
Polygala pauciflora
This milkwort has the largest flowers found in the genus, measuring nearly 1.5 inches in diameter.
This is a northerly species which extends to Tennessee in the Blue Ridge Mountains and Cumberland
Plateau regions. It can be found in moist, rich woodlands in the spring.
Many people mistake this species for an orchid, but it is in the milkwort family, a group of plants noted
for their fringed floral tubes, conspicuous in this species. Folk tradition holds that adding these plants
to hay will greatly increase milk production in cattle, giving the common family name.
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