Japanese name: ヒメハギ Scientific name:Polygala japonica
[Overview]
An evergreen perennial 10–30 cm tall, found in sunny, somewhat dry places.
It has a thin rhizome.
The stems are thin and hard, branch freely from the base, and creep along the ground at the base.
The plant becomes taller after flowering.
The leaves are simple and alternate, ovate to lanceolate, 1–3 cm long and 0.3–1.5 cm wide, with entire margins.
Racemes 1–3 cm long arise above the leaf axils or opposite the leaves and bear sparse flowers.
The flowers are reddish purple and 5–8 mm long; of the 5 sepals, 2 become large and petal-like, making them conspicuous.
The 3 petals are fused into a tube, and the tip of the lower side has a white, tufted appendage.
The calyx turns green when in fruit.
The fruit is a capsule 7–8 mm across with wings on both sides.
The seeds are elliptical and covered with white hairs; they have an appendage (elaiosome) that ants like, and they are carried and dispersed by ants.
