Polygala hongkongensis Hemsl.

Herbs or subshrubs, erect, 15-50 cm tall. Stem and branches thin, sparsely to densely crisped pubescent. Petiole ca. 2 mm, pubescent; leaf blade papery or membranous; lower leaves ovate, 1-2 × 0.5-1.5 cm, apex mucronate; upper leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 4-6 × 2-2.2 cm, abaxially greenish or glaucous, adaxially green, both surfaces glabrous, midvein raised abaxially, slightly impressed adaxially, lateral veins 3 pairs, indistinct, base rounded, margin entire, ± recurved, apex acuminate. Racemes terminal, 3-6 cm, rachis and pedicels pubescent, sparsely 7-18-flowered. Pedicel 1-2 mm; basal bracts 3, caducous, subulate. Flowers 7-9 mm. Sepals 5, persistent, ciliate; outer sepals 3, boat-shaped or elliptic, inwardly concave, ca. 4 mm, median one narrowly winged on midvein; inner sepals 2, petaloid, obliquely ovate and 5-8 × 3-5 mm, or elliptic and ca. 7 × 4 mm, base attenuate, apex mucronate. Petals 3, connate in lower 2/5, white or purple; lateral petals 3-5 mm, inside pubescent at base, margin undulate, apex rounded; keel cucullate, ca. 5 mm, apex with broad fimbriate appendages. Stamens 8; filaments ca. 5 mm, lower 2/3 united forming an open staminal sheath adnate in lower 1/2 with petals; anthers clavate. Ovary obovoid, ca. 1.5 mm, stalked, glabrous; style compressed, arcuate; stigmas 2, close together. Capsule suborbicular, ca. 4 mm in diam., base with persistent sepals, broadly winged, apex retuse. Seeds 2, black, ovoid, ca. 3.5 mm, ca. 1.5 mm in diam., thinly white pubescent; strophiole 3-lobed, 1/3-1/2 as long as seeds. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jun-Jul, or fl. and fr. Mar-Apr.

Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Zhejiang.

● Forests, forest margins, grasslands, shrub forests, mountain valleys; 300-1400 m.