Polygala chinensisL.

WFO wfo-0001240219 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 2 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 2 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Polygala chinensis, photographed by Agnes Trekker
fig. a Agnes Trekker, CC0 1.0 / 2021-09-06 / obs. 155877874
Polygala chinensis, photographed by Agnes Trekker
fig. b Agnes Trekker, CC0 1.0 / obs. 156290809
Polygala chinensis, photographed by Agnes Trekker
fig. c Agnes Trekker, CC0 1.0 / obs. 155877910
Polygala chinensis, photographed by Agnes Trekker
fig. d Agnes Trekker, CC0 1.0 / obs. 155877872
Polygala chinensis, photographed by Agnes Trekker
fig. e Agnes Trekker, CC0 1.0 / obs. 155877826
Polygala chinensis, photographed by Agnes Trekker
fig. f Agnes Trekker, CC0 1.0 / obs. 156290977
Polygala chinensis, photographed by Agnes Trekker
fig. g Agnes Trekker, CC0 1.0 / obs. 156290877
Polygala chinensis, photographed by Agnes Trekker
fig. h Agnes Trekker, CC0 1.0 / obs. 156290895

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 29 botanical countries

Regions where Polygala chinensis is native: China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Pakistan, Philippines, Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Northern Territory, Queensland, Caroline Is. China South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanTaiwanAssamBangladeshBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMyanmarNew GuineaPakistanPhilippinesSolomon Is.Sri LankaSumateraThailandVietnamWest HimalayaNorthern TerritoryQueensland Nansei-shotoNicobar Is.Caroline Is.
Native distribution of Polygala chinensis, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
New Guinea NWG
Nicobar Is. NCB
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
Solomon Is. SOL
Sri Lanka SRL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Nansei-shoto NNS
Taiwan TAI
Northern Territory NTA AUSTRALASIA
Queensland QLD
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 13 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Polygala chinensis var. chinensis
  • Polygala densiflora Blume
  • Polygala glomerata Lour.
  • Polygala glomerata var. pygmaea C.Y.Wu & S.K.Chen
  • Polygala glomerata var. villosa C.Y.Wu & S.K.Chen
  • Polygala procumbens Roth
  • Polygala sinensis J.F.Gmel.
  • Polygala socotrana Chodat
  • Polygala thwaitesii Hassk.
  • Polygala toxoptera Turcz.
  • Polygala tranquebarica Mart.
  • Polygala varians Mart.
  • Polygala warburgii Chodat ex Warb.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.