Polygala myrtifolia
Common name
sweet pea shrub
Family
Polygalaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
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
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.