Volume 7 > Part 3 > Year 2001 > Page 501 > Polygalaceae > Polygala

1. Polygala arillata Buch.-Ham. ex D.Donwfo-0001219788

Prod. Fl. Nep.: 199. 1825; A.W.Benn., Fl. Brit. Ind. 1: 200. 1872; Chodat, Monog. 2: 94. 1893; Gagnep. in Fl. Gén. I.-C. Suppl. 1: 231. 1939; Smitinand, Thai For. Bull. (Bot.) 2: 1. 1955; Meijden in Fl. Mal. I, 10: 469, fig. 3 g-h. 1988. Plate XIX: B.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Erect shrub 1–5 m. Twigs, shortly hairy, glabrescent. Leaves ovate to elliptic to slightly obovate, apex acuminate, base cuneate to rounded, midrib slightly sunken on upper surface, hairy, lamina glabrous to sparsely appressed hairy, especially on veins and towards margin, 5–13 (rarely to 18) by 1.5–8.5 cm; petiole 5–10 mm. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, with 10–60 flowers, unbranched, rather slender and lax, erect to pendulous, but never reflexed at base, shortly hairy, to 20 cm; bracts caducous, ovate-caudate, up to 2.8 mm. Flowers yellow, 14–19 mm, pedicel 4–5 mm. Outer sepals sparsely hairy, ciliate, unequal, the two lower oblong to ovate 3.5–4.5 mm, the upper markedly saccate at the base, 6–8 mm. Alae obovate, cucullate, minutely ciliate, 11–14 mm. Upper petals glabrous or slightly hairy at base, 11–14 mm, free parts oblong 5–6 mm. Keel 12–16 mm, appendage finely divided with more or less connate lobes, 1.7–2.3 mm. Stamens 11–14 mm. Disk annular, 0.7 mm. Ovary oblong to orbicular, winged, glabrous or ciliate, 2.0–2.2 by 1.6–2.2 mm; style 9–11 mm. Capsule green, more or less purple-tinged, oblong, more or less two lobed, glabrous, with prominent concentric ridges, 9–11 by 11–15 mm, wing ribbed, up to 4 mm. Seeds spheroid, glabrous, 4.0–4.5 by 5.0 mm; aril bright orange, helmet-shaped and apically projecting and covering up to half the seed, 2–5 mm.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai (Doi Inthanon – type of Polygala Kerrii: Kerr -5326 -K), Nan, Tak, Phitsanulok, Kamphaeng Phet; NORTH-EASTERN Loei; EASTERN: Nakhon Ratchasima; SOUTH-EASTERN: Trat.

Distribution : Sri Lanka, India, Nepal (type), Burma, S China, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam.

Ecology : Evergreen forests, in open and shaded places, 900–2,300 m alt.

Vernacular : Tang kai pa (ต่างไก่ป่า)(Loei).

Notes: A very common species in the montane forests of the north and east. The Indochinese Polygala tonkinensis is found in similar habitats in Indochina and is distinguished from P. arillata by its stout, upright inflorescences with a persistent, short, patent indumentum and the apically projecting and curved aril lobes. Polygala arillata is distinguished from P. karensium, the other common shrub of montane forests in Thailand, by its more robust, yellow flowers and the ridged capsule.

Section Polygala Meijden in Fl. Mal. I, 10: 469. 1988.— Polygala sect. Orthopolygala Chodat, Monog. 2: 120. 1893.