A genus of bitter herbs or shrubs having eight stamens and a two-celled ovary (as the Seneca snakeroot, the flowering wintergreen, etc.); milkwort.

type genus of the Polygalaceae: milkwort; seneca; snakeroot

Polygala is a genus of about 500 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae, commonly known as milkwort or snakeroot. The genus includes herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs and small trees, and has a subcosmopolitan distribution.