Polygala eriopteraDC.

Woolly-winged milkwort

WFO wfo-0000484329 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 4 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 4 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 erioptera, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. a Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / 2015-10-10 / obs. 61422366
Polygala erioptera, photographed by S.MORE
fig. b S.MORE, CC0 1.0 / obs. 162394379
Polygala erioptera, photographed by S.MORE
fig. c S.MORE, CC0 1.0 / obs. 55327592
Polygala erioptera, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. d Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 61422372
Polygala erioptera, photographed by S.MORE
fig. e S.MORE, CC0 1.0 / obs. 55327681
Polygala erioptera, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. f Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 91767862
Polygala erioptera, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. g Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 91767868
Polygala erioptera, photographed by S.MORE
fig. h S.MORE, CC0 1.0 / obs. 55327678

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 47 botanical countries

Regions where Polygala erioptera is native: Angola, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Djibouti, DR Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Senegal, Socotra, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Gulf States, Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Yemen, Bangladesh, India, Laccadive Is., Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya AngolaBotswanaBurkinaBurundiCameroonChadDjiboutiDR CongoEgyptEritreaEthiopiaGhanaKenyaMalawiMaliMauritaniaMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesRwandaSenegalSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweGulf StatesIranOmanSaudi ArabiaSinaiYemenBangladeshIndiaMyanmarPakistanThailandVietnamWest Himalaya Cape VerdeLaccadive Is.Maldives
Native distribution of Polygala erioptera, 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
Angola ANG AFRICA
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Verde CVI
Chad CHA
Djibouti DJI
DR Congo ZAI
Egypt EGY
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Ghana GHA
Kenya KEN
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Socotra SOC
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Bangladesh BAN ASIA-TROPICAL
India IND
Laccadive Is. LDV
Maldives MDV
Myanmar MYA
Pakistan PAK
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
Gulf States GST ASIA-TEMPERATE
Iran IRN
Oman OMA
Saudi Arabia SAU
Sinai SIN
Yemen YEM

Not drawn on the map: Socotra. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

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 12 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 erioptera f. erioptera
  • Polygala erioptera subsp. petraea (Chodat) Paiva
  • Polygala leptorhiza DC.
  • Polygala noucherensis Cambess.
  • Polygala nubica Hochst. ex Chodat
  • Polygala obtusata DC.
  • Polygala oligantha A.Rich.
  • Polygala paulayana Vierh.
  • Polygala petraea Chodat
  • Polygala retusa Hochst. ex Oliv.
  • Polygala thurmanniana Chodat
  • Polygala vahliana DC.

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. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. 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.