Botanical name

Polygala garcinii

Family

Polygalaceae

Common Name

Dainty Butterfly Bush, Milk Maker
Polygala garcinii

Description

Soft shrublet up to 40cm with slender trailing branches from a woody base. Leaves are narrow to needle-like; flowers are purple in long terminal racemes, white-crested, with blunt side petals, hairy beneath.

Latin: poly = much, gala = milk: some European species supposedly increase the milk production of cows, hence common name Milk Maker.

After: Laurent Garcin (1683-1752), French-born Dutch army physician, botanist and naturalist of the Dutch East India Company.

Habitat

Sandy and clay slopes

Flower Date

September to December