Rhinotropis subspinosa
species of plant
Rhinotropis subspinosa is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family known by the common name spiny milkwort. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows in desert and plateau habitat. It is a perennial herb or small shrub growing in a clump no more than 25 centimeters tall. The stems have woody bases and green, thorn-tipped branches. The leaves are up to 3 centimeters in length and generally oval in shape. The flowers have winglike pairs of bright pink sepals and the keeled central petal is tipped with a yellowish beak, sometimes fringed at the tip.
Taxonomy
In 1873 the botanist Sereno Watson scientifically described a new species in the Polygala genus which he named Polygala subspinosa. In 2011 J. Richard Abbott moved it to Rhinotropis, giving the species its accepted name. Together with its genus it is classified in the Polygalaceae family. It has an additional heterotypic synonym, Polygala lasseniana, published by Amos Arthur Heller in 1940.
The public source identifies “Rhinotropis subspinosa” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Rhinotropis, subspinosa and species.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Rhinotropis subspinosa”, the useful work is to connect “species of plant” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17468629. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1873, 2011 and 1940.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Rhinotropis subspinosa” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.