Polygalaceae
Sign in to saveThe Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ca. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Over half of the species are in one genus, Polygala, the milkworts.
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Polygalaceae, commonly known as the milkwort family, is a group of flowering plants found nearly worldwide, containing about 27 genera and roughly 900 species that grow as herbs, shrubs, and trees. The family is notable for being dominated by a single genus called Polygala, which accounts for more than half of all known species in the family.
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Taxonomy · GBIF
FAMILY
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassMagnoliopsida
- OrderFabales
- FamilyPolygalaceae
via GBIF · CC0
Article
5 sectionsContents
- Description
- Tribes and genera
- Fossils
- Systematics
- References
The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ca. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Over half of the species are in one genus, Polygala, the milkworts.
The family was first described in 1809 by Johann Hoffmansegg and Johann Link. In 1896, Robert Chodat split it into three tribes. A fourth tribe was split off from the tribe Polygaleae in 1992. Under the Cronquist classification system, Polygalaceae were treated in a separate order of their own, Polygalales. Currently, according to the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, the family belongs in Fabales.