Illustration of milkwort
milkwort
noun
milk·wort
ˈmilk-ˌwərt 
-ˌwȯrt
: any of a genus (Polygala of the family Polygalaceae, the milkwort family) of herbs and shrubs often having showy flowers with three sometimes crested petals united below into a tube and an irregular calyx with two petaloid sepals
Examples of milkwort in a Sentence
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The genus epithet of Polygala comes from the Greek for much (poly) milk (gala) and one of its common names is milkwort.
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Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 8 Nov. 2025
Interspersed are lavender bushes, myrtle leaf milkwort, and Agapanthus.
—Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Nov. 2022
The base, like that of the sand milkwort seed, holds a tip that lures ants.
—Discover Magazine, 29 June 2010
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Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 8 Nov. 2025
Interspersed are lavender bushes, myrtle leaf milkwort, and Agapanthus.
—Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Nov. 2022
The base, like that of the sand milkwort seed, holds a tip that lures ants.
—Discover Magazine, 29 June 2010
Cite this Entry
“Milkwort.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/milkwort. Accessed 2 Dec. 2025.
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