ID of Florida wildflower (Fabaceae?)
 

Location: Southeast Florida (USA), south of Fort Myers;
Winkler Point, Estero Bay Preserve State Park

Habitat: narrow stretch of relatively dry, sandy soil between
freshwater marshes

Date photos taken: Jan. 25, 2010; follow-ups on Feb. 18, 2010

Photos: www.nyx.net/~dhcox/fab1.jpg and fab2.jpg and fab3.jpg

I am guessing that this is in the Fabaceae but it is just a guess. The
flower was very small, about 1/3 of an inch across. The leaves were
alternate, entire, narrow, up to one and 1/3 inch long, with a pronounced
midrib beneath. I went back to take the second two photos, I am pretty
sure I found the same species if not the same individual. I would be
very grateful for any help on identification of this species.

Thanks!

-David Cox

ID of Florida wildflower (Fabaceae?)
 

Check the genus Polygala of the Polygalaceae. The flowers do look a bit
like bean flowers but are constructed differently. Compare your sample
to this photo of Polygala grandiflora.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_cressler/3800292830/

M. Reed
Texas A&M

David Hamilton Cox wrote:
Location: Southeast Florida (USA), south of Fort Myers;
Winkler Point, Estero Bay Preserve State Park

Habitat: narrow stretch of relatively dry, sandy soil between
freshwater marshes

Date photos taken: Jan. 25, 2010; follow-ups on Feb. 18, 2010

Photos: www.nyx.net/~dhcox/fab1.jpg and fab2.jpg and fab3.jpg

I am guessing that this is in the Fabaceae but it is just a guess. The
flower was very small, about 1/3 of an inch across. The leaves were
alternate, entire, narrow, up to one and 1/3 inch long, with a pronounced
midrib beneath. I went back to take the second two photos, I am pretty
sure I found the same species if not the same individual. I would be
very grateful for any help on identification of this species.

Thanks!

-David Cox

ID of Florida wildflower (Fabaceae?)
 

Wow, Polygala grandiflora sure looks like the correct answer, the
right ID of the photo I asked about. Many thanks to M. Reed for
the response.

Besides the satisfaction of simply having this intriguing flower
identified, it is interesting to me because I previously have seen
only one species of Polygala, P. brevifolia, and that only in my
yard here in Virginia. I've spent no little time trying to verify
that ID, and am still not sure; last summer, two eminently qualified
botanists visited me to see an unusual flower neither had seen, and
I was getting their input on some longstanding puzzles, and even
though they took a sample of my Polygala home to examine with a
microscope, they were still not able to offer an ID. They said that
the leaves were past the point of being able to clinch an ID.

Thanks again for the help!

-David Cox