Petite Butterfly
Polygala fruticosa
A beautiful, long-lasting flowering display of purplish magenta or violet blooms is produced by the Petite Butterfly sweet pea shrub. This evergreen shrub is native to South Africa on mountain slopes and coastal hills. It attains a bushy, rounded habit about waist high.
Unlike most other members of the Polygala genus, this species has opposite-arranged leaves on its branches. Moreover, the gray-green leaves of 'Petite Butterfly' are shaped like rounded hearts. The main flowering season is from late summer into the autumn, although light blossoming can happen year round. Each flower comprises five sepals and five petals. Two sepals are larger and look like wings. Two petals fuse to make a boat-shaped keel. There is a characteristic tuft on the keel that absolutely tells you this is not a member of the pea family. The flowers are a variable shade of red-violet to magenta-purple. Bees pollinate these nectar-rich blossoms, leading to the formation of papery capsules with black seeds inside. The capsules persist on the branches.
Unlike most other members of the Polygala genus, this species has opposite-arranged leaves on its branches. Moreover, the gray-green leaves of 'Petite Butterfly' are shaped like rounded hearts. The main flowering season is from late summer into the autumn, although light blossoming can happen year round. Each flower comprises five sepals and five petals. Two sepals are larger and look like wings. Two petals fuse to make a boat-shaped keel. There is a characteristic tuft on the keel that absolutely tells you this is not a member of the pea family. The flowers are a variable shade of red-violet to magenta-purple. Bees pollinate these nectar-rich blossoms, leading to the formation of papery capsules with black seeds inside. The capsules persist on the branches.
