Polygalaceae

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.

Polygalaceae
Securidaca longipedunculata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Polygalaceae
Hoffmanns. & Link
Type genus
Polygala
Tribes

See text.

Distribution of the Polygalaceae
Synonyms
  • Diclidantheraceae J. Agardh
  • Moutabeaceae Pfeiffer
  • Xanthophyllaceae Reveal & Hoogland

The family was first described in 1809 by Johann Hoffmansegg and Johann Link. In 1896, Robert Chodat split it into 3 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.

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