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Wild flowers of the north-eastern states

Chapter 20: MILKWORT FAMILY. POLYGALACEÆ.
By Ellen Miller
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Nature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

This illustrated manual gathers 308 common wildflowers of the northeastern United States, each drawn life-size and accompanied by plain-language descriptions emphasizing habit, color, and growth rather than technical dissection. Organized by floral families in the sequence of Gray's Manual and arranged for seasonal bloom, entries include leaves, stems, and often whole growth, with occasional shrubs, vines, and fruit shown where notable. Aimed at amateur naturalists, it favors recognizable traits and folk names to ease identification, offers practical notes on variations and habitat, and pairs accurate botanical classification with accessible, pictorial presentation.

MILKWORT FAMILY.
POLYGALACEÆ.

Flowering Wintergreen.Polygala paucifolia.
Fringed Polygala.

Found in light woods during May.

The single stalk is flattened beneath the leaf, from 3 to 5 inches in height, and slender. It is smooth, and strongly tinted with purple, even with crimson, at the foot.

The lower leaves are small, clasping, and alternate; the upper are on stems, and form a terminal cluster of 4 or 5 around the flowers,—they are oval, with an entire margin, and a thick texture, smooth, and glossy green.

The irregular-shaped flower, like a gayly colored fly, has a very delicate and fine texture, and is of an exquisite clear crimson tint, the one fringed petal being white, tinged with a light yellow-green. From 1 to 3 flowers, on their green stems, form a terminal cluster.

These flowers are the idle beauties of the plant; the unnoted homely Cinderella flower, very small, misshapen, and dull, that sits down in the dust on a little side-stem close to the root, bears the seeds. The leaves last over winter, turning a rich crimson-bronze hue, almost as brilliant as the flowers; the fresh leaves are simultaneous in growth with the blossoms, unfolding as the buds swell. White varieties are occasionally found.