Curtis Botanical – Plate 8065 – Petalless Milkwort / Baja Polygala

Original antique black-and-white print from Curtis's Botanical Magazine — Plate 8065.

A remarkable Baja California milkwort that has almost entirely lost its petals (apopetala = without petals) — the flowers are reduced to the bare essentials of reproduction. The milkwort family (Polygalaceae) takes its name from the Greek for 'much milk' — the plants were thought to increase milk production in nursing mothers and livestock.

Southern California and Baja California connection.

Uncolored plate. Condition consistent with age of volume. Each print is a unique piece of botanical history, printed on paper aged over a century.

This plate originated with the Royal Horticultural Society and passed through Wheldon & Wesley, one of the great natural history dealers of the 20th century. We came into the archive by accident and have spent the time since trying to share it as widely as we can.