Students for Stewardship The Cork Board
← Back to the library

Appalachian milkwort

Senega curtissii (SEH-neh-gah ker-TISS-ee-eye)

Family: Polygalaceae Unknown Herbaceous

Appalachian milkwort is a native wildflower in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It is widespread in the Southeast. The species epithet honors Allen Hiram Curtiss, a 19th-century American botanist who explored Florida and brought many species to the attention of science for the first time. Appalachian milkwort is typically found in open areas, sandy meadows, old fields, and moist woodland borders. It is rarely cultivated.

Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox ↗ NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, 25 attributes.

How it fits the guild

Guild layer 4 - Herbaceous
See companions & conflicts ↓

Companions & Conflicts

Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.

No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.

Also noted by NC State

Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.

Full plant profile

Growing Conditions
Plant type
Annual; Herbaceous Perennial; Wildflower
Life cycle
Annual; Perennial
NC region
Mountains; Piedmont
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Linear; Oblanceolate; Oblong
Hairs present
No
Flower color
Pink; Purple/Lavender
Flower form
Spike
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
0.25 " flowers borne on compact raceme at ends of a short terminal branch; pointed at first, then becomes blunt
Bloom time
Fall; Spring; Summer
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Unknown
Origin
Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky
Landscape Use
Garden tags
#native wildflower #herb garden #wildflower #NC native #NC Native Pollinator Plant

Planted at Hunnicutt

Nobody’s planted this one yet.