Gulpankhi / Woolly-Winged Milkwort
Polygala erioptera
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Gulpankhi
Identify Gulpankhi by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Woolly-winged seed pods.
- Confirm flower colour: Purple.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Polygalaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Gulpankhi.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Polygala erioptera
- Genus
- Polygala
- Family
- Polygalaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Distribution
- India, Arabia, Tropical Africa, Myanmar, Pakistan, West Asia
- Found in India
- Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- PurplerecordedPurple or violet
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Fruit
- Drupe
Characters marked “recorded” are for Gulpankhi itself; the rest are typical of the Polygalaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Marathi
- गुलपंखी Gulpankhi
- Rajasthani
- Boyasan
About Gulpankhi
Woolly-Winged Milkwort (Polygala erioptera) belongs to the Polygalaceae family, where it grows as a herb. In India it has been recorded in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and 9 other states. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Polygalaceae
Milkwort Family
Gulpankhi belongs to the Polygalaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Polygalaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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