Species

Polygala myrtifolia

Common Name(s)

sweet pea shrub

Family

Polygalaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

POLMYR

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Habitat

Terrestrial. Susceptible to frost. Coastal areas, forest margins, open land, islands, inland scrub.

Features

Perennial much-branched shrub up to 2m high. Young stems with short curly hairs, glabrous when older. Leaves all alternate, glabrous or very sparsely hairy, elliptic to obovate, obtuse or rarely slightly retuse, entire, 15~30mm long; petioles 1~2mm long. Flowers clustered in short simple terminal racemes; perianth coloured or veined purple toward apex; pedicels 5~8mm long; bracts suborbicular, 2~3mm long, persistent; 3 outer sepals ovate, 5~7mm long; wings petaloid, ovate-orbicular, approx. 15~17mm long, slightly > corolla; outer petals 2-lobed, around 1/3~1/4 length of keel; keel with a fimbriate crest near apex. Capsule glabrous, around 10mm long with a marginal wing about 1mm wide, approx. 2/3 length of persistent calyx wings; seeds hairy, dark brown, oblong, about 5mm long; strophiole 3-lobed.

Similar Taxa

Much-branched shrub up to 2m; leaves are 2.5cm, alternate, oval and light green; younger stems of the plant are covered in short, curly hairs; pea-like flowers, 1.5cm long, are clustered at the end of each short branchlet; petals are pinky-purple, middle petal is white with a purple blush ending in a tuft of white hairs; seeds are dark brown and hairy in a 10mm winged capsule.

Flowering

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Flower Colours

Red / Pink,Violet / Purple

Year Naturalised

1870

Origin

South Africa

Reason For Introduction
Ornamental

Life Cycle Comments
Perennial.

Seed
Prolific seeder.

Dispersal
Seeds are dispersed by wind and sometimes water; the majority fall close to the parent plant.

Tolerances
Tolerant of shade and wet conditions. Seedlings regrow after fire.

This page last updated on 3 May 2011