Polygala myrtifolia
NPPA pest plant
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
sweet pea shrub
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
Red/Pink, Violet/Purple
Detailed description
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.
Habitat
Terrestrial. Susceptible to frost. Coastal areas, forest margins, open land, islands, inland scrub. Seeds are dispersed by wind and sometimes water; the majority fall close to the parent plant.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Polygalaceae
Ecology
Flowering
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
Year naturalised
1870
Origin
South Africa
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Tolerances
Tolerant of shade and wet conditions. Seedlings regrow after fire.
Life cycle and dispersal
Perennial. Prolific seeder;
Other information
National Pest Plant Accord species
This plant is listed in the 2020 National Pest Plant Accord. The National Pest Plant Accord (NPPA) is an agreement to prevent the sale and/or distribution of specified pest plants where either formal or casual horticultural trade is the most significant way of spreading the plant in New Zealand. For up to date information and an electronic copy of the 2020 Pest Plant Accord manual (including plant information and images) visit the MPI website.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
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.
POLMYR