(A) Purple Virgin’s Bower (Clematis verticillaris) is probably the most rare species of Clematis. It grows in rocky, hilly, or mountainous woods, most abundantly in northern portions of its range, which is from Quebec to Hudson Bay and south locally to Del. and Pa. It is a climbing woody vine, supporting itself by the bending or clasping of the leaf stalks. The flowers grow singly, on long stems from the axils of the leaves or from the end of the vine. They are large and handsome, the four thin, purple, pointed, translucent sepals spreading from two to four inches when fully expanded. The leaves are divided into three leaflets, ovate, pointed, with a heart-shaped base.
(B) Virgin’s Bower (Clematis virginiana) is a beautiful, graceful, climbing, twining vine found throughout our range. The small greenish-white flowers, with four or five petals, grow in clusters from the leaf axils; staminate and pistillate ones are on separate plants. In fall, the beautiful silky plumes of the seed pods gives this species the name of “Old Man’s Beard.”
(A) Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) is one of our typical, early woodland plants, graceful in form and beautiful in flower. It grows in rocky woodland throughout our range, flowering from April to June.
The stem is very slender, wiry, and graceful, quite branching, and attaining heights of one to two feet. The flowers are heavy, which causes them to nod from their slender, thread-like peduncles. A quantity of nectar is secreted in the base of each red spur, serving to attract butterflies, moths, and often the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, for those birds are very partial to red colors.
(B) Goldthread (Coptis trifolia) is a small woodland plant receiving its name from the slender, thread-like, golden-yellow roots. These roots are characteristic and readily identify the species. The leaves are evergreen, deeply shining green in color, 3-parted and notched, on long petioles from the root. The white flower has five or six early-falling sepals; it is usually solitary on a scape from 3 to 6 in. high. Common in rich woods throughout U. S. and Canada.
(A) Monkshood; Aconite (Aconitum uncinatum) is an attractive wild flower with a slender, rather weak stem often supporting itself against other species. The flowers are quite large and handsome. The five sepals are very unequal in size and shape; the upper one large and hood-like, concealing two small petals within it. The leaves are firm, three- to five-lobed and notched, on slender petioles. In rich, moist woods from Pa. southward, flowering from June to September.
(B) Hepatica; Liverwort (Hepatica triloba). If we except the Skunk Cabbage, the beautiful Hepatica is the first of our flowers to appear. Its stems are thickly covered with fuzzy hairs; the three-lobed, smooth-edged leaves are rather thick and coarse, lasting through the winter but turning a ruddy color, while the new ones, that appear with the buds, are light-green and radiate above the older prostrate ones. A single blossom appears at the end of each long fuzzy scape; it is about one inch broad, and has five to ten pale-purple or lilac sepals.
Hepaticas bloom from March to May in open woods from N. S. to Manitoba and southward.
Mandrake; May Apple (Podophyllum peltatum) belongs to the Barberry Family (Berberidaceæ), a small family of shrubs or herbs, divided into five genera of but one or two species each. The present species is quite common in rich woods, or in shady moist ground, from western N. E. to Minn. and southward flowering in May. The bare stalk rises to heights of 10 to 12 inches, then branches into two long-stemmed, light-green, large, spreading leaves; the latter are five- to nine-parted, lobed, notched, and unevenly balanced. From the forked joint of the leaves hangs a solitary white flower on a short, slender, curving peduncle, this is very delicate, nearly two inches across, and of six petals and twice as many stamens.
The fruit is large and lemon-shaped, yellow in color, ripening in July. It is the fruit that gives it the name of May Apple. While the leaves and stem are poisonous, the fruit is not, but has a peculiar, acid, sickish flavor.
(A) Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). Closely following on the heels of our handsome Hepatica we find the delicate flowered Bloodroot unfurling its leaves and expanding its flowers in rich, rocky, open woodland. The flowers are very delicate; the petals stay but two or three days anyway, and a breath of wind may blow them off sooner.
After the flower is gone, the leaf develops rapidly and becomes very large and imposing, with many divisions and lobes. The root is reddish and is filled with a bloodlike juice, as is also the stem. Bloodroot is common from N. S. to Minn. and southward. It flowers in April and May.
(B) Prickly Poppy (Argemone mexicana) is a handsome Mexican plant found in the southwestern portions of the United States. It has a prickly stem from one to two feet high. The stemless leaves have sharp lobes, also armed with prickles. The flower is bright yellow, has four petals, and numerous orange-tipped stamens. The flowers give no nectar but plenty of pollen to the bees that visit them.
Celandine (Chelidonium majus) (European) is abundant almost everywhere in the eastern half of our country.
The stem is quite stout and very branching; at the end of each branch is a loose cluster of buds on slender pedicels. These open one or two at a time, so that the plant keeps in bloom for a long time; in fact, the flowering season extends from early in May to the end of September. The flowers are half an inch or more broad, with four golden-yellow petals, a slender, pointed green pistil, and numerous yellow stamens. The seed-pod is long and slender.
The thin, soft leaves are very handsomely divided into three-to seven-lobed leaflets. Both stem and leaves have a bright yellow, very acrid juice, that stains everything it comes in contact with. Celandine is often known in Europe as “Swallow-wort” as it is supposed to commence flowering with the coming of the swallows and to cease with their departure. Its generic name also originated in this belief.
(A) Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra Cucullaria). This peculiarly flowered herb belongs to the Fumitory family, a family of delicate, smooth plants with watery juices and compound, dissected leaves.
The flower stalk, proceeding from the root, attains heights of from 5 to 9 inches and bears a loose raceme of four to eight white, inverted flowers; the four petals are united in pairs, two of them forming a large double-spurred sac, and the other two very small petals forming a protection for the stigma. The double sac is white, stained with yellow. The leaves are on long petioles from the rootstalk; they are pale sage-green in color, 3-parted and finely slashed. Dutchman’s Breeches may be found blooming in April and May in rich, hilly woods from N.S. to Minn. and south to N.C. and Mo.
(B) Squirrel Corn (D. canadensis) is similar, but the white, sac-like petals are stained with purple, the spurs are shorter and rounder, and the flower is slightly fragrant. The roots have little tuberous appendages resembling grains of corn. This species is found in the same range as the last.
(A) Toothwort; Crinkleroot (Dentaria diphylla). During the latter part of April or in May we will find white, crosslike flowers of Toothwort often growing side by side with Anemones. Its stem is stout and smooth, and rises to heights of 8 to 12 inches. Two 3-parted, notched-edged leaves with short stems are set oppositely on the flowering stalk, above the middle; other larger, similar ones are on long petioles from the rootstalk. Its root is crinkled and with toothlike appendages. It is found in rich woods from N. S. to Minn. and southward.
(B) Whitlow Grass (Draba verna) (European) is a weed that we find along roadsides, waste places, or barren fields. The flowers are small, and the four white petals are deeply notched. The scape is from 1 to 5 in. high. The leaves are all basal, lance-shaped, and lobed or toothed.
(A) Common Mustard (Brassica nigra) (European) is extensively cultivated in Europe for the small dark-brown seeds that form a valuable article of commerce, being used for the table condiment and for various medicinal purposes.
In our country Mustard is regarded as a pest; it is a very strong, hardy plant, soon overrunning sections where it gets a foothold. The stem is very branching and grows to heights of from 2 to 7 feet. The four-petalled, light-yellow flowers are in small dense clusters at the ends of the branches; a trail of small, erect seedpods is left in the wake of the flowers as they continue to bloom along the lengthening stem. The leaves have a large, terminal notched lobe and smaller lateral ones.
(B) Hedge Mustard (Sisymbrium officinale) (European). This common weed has tiny, four-petalled yellow flowers that bloom all summer, along the lengthening stem, and leave numerous tiny pods closely set against the stem. The leaves are more angular and more finely divided than those of the Common Mustard.
A small family of bog-inhabiting plants having hollow pitcher-formed or trumpet-shaped leaves.
Pitcher Plant; Huntsman’s Cup (Sarracenia purpurea). Few plants are as little known generally as this species. It is one of the most interesting ones that we have. The shapes of both the leaves and blossoms are clearly shown in the opposite picture. The pitchers, or basal leaves, may number from three to a dozen, all radiating from the root and all with the orifice up. An examination shows that each pitcher is partially filled with water. Just below the rim of the leaf, on the inside, is a sticky substance to attract insects; as these enter, they pass downward over countless little hairs, all pointing downward. These make it very difficult for insects to crawl out of the pitcher, and many of them become exhausted and are drowned in the water. As these insects decompose, they are absorbed by the plant.
The Pitcher Plant is local in bogs from Labrador to Manitoba and southward.
(A) Thread-leaved Sundew (Drosera filiformis) has long, linear film-like, erect, very hairy leaves. The flowers are numerous and loosely racemed at the top of a slender smooth scape; they have five small purple petals, five stamens, and several 2-parted stigmas. This species is found in wet sandy soil from New England to Delaware.
(B) Round-leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) is one of the most common of the Sundews, it is found in moist, sandy, or peaty soil from Labrador to Alaska and south to Pa. and Cal. The leaves are numerous, quite round, and on long stems from the root. The leaves are thickly covered with hairy glands that exude drops of a clear glutinous fluid. These dew-like drops deceive insects into alighting on the leaves. Having caught a victim, the leaf slowly folds about it and digests it.
The flower stalk of this species grows from 5 to 9 in. high, is reddish colored, and often has one or two branches at the top. The one to twenty-five flowers that it has during the flowering season are white.
(A) Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia caroliniana) is a pretty little swamp or meadow plant growing from 8 to 24 inches high. The flowers are a delicate creamy white, finely veined with greenish, and borne singly on long scapes; a single heart-shaped leaf clasps each flower scape a short distance above its base. The basal leaves are long-stemmed, rather thick and coarse in texture, smooth-edged and bluntly pointed.
We find this species in bloom from the latter part of June until the end of September, most abundantly in the latter month. It ranges from Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Va. and Mo.
(B) Early Saxifrage (Saxifraga virginiensis) is a tiny-flowered plant that loves dry, sunny, rocky hillsides. It flowers during March and April. The leaves are all basal; spatulate in shape, blunt ended, either rough-edged or toothed, rather coarse in texture, narrowing toward their base into clasping stems. Saxifrage is common from N. B. to Minn., south to Ga. and Tenn.
Mitrewort (Mitella nuda) has a few flowers, very short-stemmed, in a loose raceme at the top of a leafless, slightly hairy scape 4 to 7 in. high. The flowers have five petals, each with the edge beautifully fringed so as to give the flower a crystalline appearance almost like a snowflake. We find this species from Labrador to Saskatchewan, south to Ct. and Mich.
(A) Two-leaved Mitrewort (Mitella diphylla) is a larger and sturdier species with similar flowers, but with two very short-stemmed, heart-shaped leaves clasping the flower stem oppositely about halfway up its length. Found in rich woods from N. E. to Minn., south to N. C. and Mo.
(B) Foam Flower; False Mitrewort (Tiarella cordifolia) has the general appearance of the last species. The slender, hairy flower scape, rising 6 to 12 in. from the rootstalk, has at the top a loose panicle of many small flowers, each on a long, slender stem, thus differing from the short-stemmed flowers of Mitella. Foam Flower is common from N. S. to Minn. southward, flowering in May and June.
(A) Meadowsweet (Spiræa salicifolia) is a common and beautiful shrub that grows along the edges of woods, swamps, or even roadsides. Its handsome pyramidal clusters of flowers are in evidence during July and August. The stem is straight, slender, woody, and yellowish buff; along it, at close intervals, alternate the lanceolate, toothed, short-stemmed leaves. At the top is a spire-like panicle of fleecy flower clusters. Each flower has five round, white petals and numerous long, pink stamens that give the flowers a feathery appearance and a rosy tint. It ranges from N. Y. to Mo. and southward.
(B) Hardhack; Steeplebush (Spiræa tomentosa) is one of our most beautiful flowering shrubs. The flower spike is more slender and steeple-like than that of Meadowsweet, and the flowers are a beautiful shade of pink. The leaves are more closely alternated and are dark green above and lighter below. Steeplebush grows in low ground from N. B. to Minn. and southward.
(A) Wild Strawberry (Fragraria virginiana). The hairy stems of both leaves and flowers rise directly from the running rootstalk. The flowers, several of which grow on each stem, are wheel-shaped, have five rounded white petals, and narrow lanceolate greenish sepals. After the flowering season, the green center expands, becomes pulpy, and finally turns red on the outer surface; the numerous seeds are in little pits provided for them on the surface of the berry.
The Wild Strawberry is common in fields and pastures throughout our range.
(B) High Bush Blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis) is a tall branching shrub with slender brown stems, from three to ten feet long, armed with stout, slightly recurved prickles. It is from this species that the well-known variety was developed. The leaves are divided into three to five ovate, pointed, toothed leaflets, with a ribbed and hairy surface. The flowers have five green sepals alternating with the narrow white petals. This species is very common everywhere.
(A) Common Cinquefoil; Five-finger (Potentilla canadensis). This species is the most common of the Five-fingers. It is often mistaken for the Wild Strawberry, because of a similarity between the leaves of the two species, although those of this species have five divisions while those of the Strawberry have but three. The flowers are shaped like those of the Strawberry, but have bright-yellow petals. It is very common in the United States and southern Canada.
(B) Silvery Cinquefoil (Potentilla argentea) is a common and very handsome species found in dry, barren ground throughout our range, but most abundantly near the coast. It is smaller than the preceding, being from 5 to 12 in. high. The little yellow flowers are clustered at the ends of the branches. The stems and the undersides of the divided and deeply cut leaves are covered with fine, white, silvery wool, contrasting sharply with the dark green of the upper surfaces. This species bloom from May until September.
(A) Agrimony (Agrimonia gryposepala) is a common weed found on the borders of swamps or thickets. It has a tall, hairy, simple stem from two to four feet high.
The flowers are in a long, many-flowered spike at the top of the stalk. Each flower is tiny, has five yellow petals, and numerous orange stamens, giving the spike a bright, golden-yellow appearance. It is a common plant from N. B. to N. C. and westward to Cal.
(B) Marsh Five-finger; Purple Cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris) is in character quite like the foregoing species. It is the only one, however, having purple flowers, and is easily recognized on that account. The flowers are nearly an inch broad, larger than those of the other Cinquefoils.
The stem grows from 6 to 20 inches long and is rather woody at the base. Purple Cinquefoil grows in swamps or cool bogs, from Labrador to Alaska and south to N. J., Pa., Ia., and Cal., flowering during July and August.
(A) Creeping Dalibarda (Dalibarda repens) is a delicate woodland plant, found from N. B. to Manitoba and south to N. J., Ohio, and Mich. It has creeping, densely tufted rootstalks, from which spring numerous heart-shaped leaves on long petioles; these leaves, their stems, and the flower stalks are downy, the former being scallop-edged or toothed.
Dalibarda has two kinds of flowers: The first on long, upright scapes spread about half an inch, have five oval white petals and many stamens. The second are cleistogamous ones (fertilized in the bud) on short curving peduncles from the root. These last flowers are fertile, while many of those with petals are not. Dalibarda blooms from June to September in rich woods.
(B) Yellow Avens (Geum strictum) grows in moist locations in swamps or thickets. The texture of the whole plant, leaves and stems, is rough and coarse. The root leaves are interruptedly pinnate, the segments being wedge-shaped and toothed. The flowers have quite large golden-yellow petals and a downy receptacle. This species is common from Newfoundland to Manitoba and south to N. C. and Mo.
Swamp Rose (Rosa carolina). Wild Roses are very common throughout our range and, of course, are familiar to every one. The Swamp Rose is a very bushy species, growing from one to nine feet high. It is very common on the edges of swamps or streams, and in low ground, throughout our range.
The flowers are two or three inches broad and have numerous yellow stamens radiating from the greenish-white centre. The stem of the Swamp Rose is sparingly armed with stout, wide-based, curved thorns.
Pasture Rose (Rosa humulis) is the most abundant of all our Wild Roses and grows in profusion in all dry, rocky places. It does not grow as high as the Swamp Rose, rarely exceeding three feet in height, but the slender stems are more branching and often grow in large, tangled masses. The flowers are about the same size as those of the Swamp Rose, but are usually solitary at the ends of the branches.
The stem is armed with straight, slender, light brown thorns or prickles, two of which are set oppositely on the stem at its junctions with the leaf stems.
Sweetbrier; Eglantine (Rosa rubiginosa) is a very beautiful species of Wild Rose introduced from Europe. We may find it blooming quite commonly in dry, rocky pastures and waste places during June and July. It is remarkable for and easily identified by the sweet-scented aromatic fragrance of its leaves. The stems are long and arching, growing from 2 to 6 feet in height; they are brown and are armed at frequent intervals with short, decidedly recurved thorns or prickles.
At regular intervals along the stem are close-set, compact clusters of flowers and leaves. The leaves are made up of five or seven very small leaflets, rounded-ovate in form and with the edge finely double-toothed, and covered beneath with fine, sticky, glandular hairs. The flowers are also quite small, especially when compared to the very common Pasture and Swamp Roses, being only from 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Eglantine is found from Nova Scotia to Michigan and southward to Virginia and Tenn.
(A) Wild or Blue Lupine (Lupinus perennis) receives its generic name from the Latin of wolf, because it was thought that the species preyed upon the soil and made it infertile for other kinds of plants. It is a very common species in sandy places and we often see it on the banks along railroads. The stem is quite stout, erect, hairy, and branching. The leaves have long, slender stems; the leaf, proper, is palmately divided into seven to eleven narrow, smooth-edged leaflets.
The flowers are in long, showy, terminal spikes of pea-like blossoms. Lupine is very common through the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains.
(B) Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis) is a tall branching species with a stem from 3 to 6 feet in height. The leaves are divided into three spatulate-shaped leaflets. The violet-blue flowers grow in long loose spikes; they are about one inch long, have a four- or five-toothed calyx, straight keel and wings, and short standard. The seed-pod has a spur at its tip. This species is common from Pa. to Ga. and west to Mo.
(A) Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) is a very branchy and very bushy herb. The stem divides soon after it leaves the ground, the slender branchlets extending equally in all directions. The leaves are three-parted, wedge-shaped, dull green with a white bloom that gives them a bluish-green appearance. The yellow, butterfly-shaped flowers are in loose clusters at the ends of all the branches.
The roots of Wild Indigo are used by drug concerns for the compounding of a number of medicines. An indigo dye, of a poor quality, can also be made from the plant. Wild Indigo grows in dry, sandy soil from Maine to Minnesota, flowering from June to September.
(B) Rattlebox (Crotolaria sagittalis) receives its name because the seeds rattle about in the large, inflated, blackish seed-pod. It is an annual herb, with a hairy-bending stem and stemless, toothless, pointed-oval leaves alternating along it. The yellow, pea-like flowers are in small clusters at the ends of the branches. It is found in sandy soil, chiefly along the coast, from Mass. to Fla. and Texas and, in the Mississippi basin, to Indiana and South Dakota.
(A) Goats Rue; Cat Gut (Tephrosia virginiana). We find this herb in most all dry, sandy, waste places from N. H. to Minn. and southward.
It is a pea-like plant with a simple, silky-haired, erect stem, leafy to the top where it terminates in a dense raceme or panicle of yellowish-white flowers marked with purple. The flowers are large and numerous; they have a rounded standard but little longer than the wings and keel. Its roots are long, very slender, and very tough.
(B) Partridge Pea (Cassia Chamæcrista) is a handsome species with large, showy yellow flowers measuring about 1¼ inches across; often the five, large, rounded petals have purplish spots at their bases; after flowering long, erect seed-pods are left in the place of each of the blossoms.
The leaves of the Partridge Pea are long and compounded of 20-30 small, blunt, lance-shaped leaflets, each with a tiny awl-like point. The stem is erect, rather smooth, and grows one or two feet tall. We find this plant in dry or sandy fields throughout the United States.
(A) Rabbit-foot Clover; Stone Clover (Trifolium arvense) (European). The stalk of this species is soft, silky, and from 4 to 10 inches high. The light-green leaves have three leaflets with blunt tips. The flower-heads are composed of numerous florets; it is the long, pink, feathery tips of the five-parted calyx that gives the blossom its silky fuzziness; it is quite fragrant and is visited by the smallest butterflies. You may find this species everywhere within our range.
(B) Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) is the most common and the most valuable species of clover. One would hardly believe, knowing how abundant it is in all parts of our range, that this Clover could have been introduced and have become so widely distributed, yet such is the case. One reason that it does so well in this country is that we have a very large number of bumblebees, and it has been found that clover is so dependent upon these insects for fertilization, that, without them, it will soon die out.
The little florets, composing the globular flower-head, are bright crimson-pink. The three leaflets that make up each leaf have whitish-green triangles in the middle.
(A) Alsike or Alsatian Clover (Trifolium hybridum) (European) is quite similar to our native White Clover, but the stem is stout, branching, and juicy. The trifoliate leaves of this species are unmarked and have a simple, rounded end, not notched, but the edge of the leaf is very finely toothed. The florets composing the round flower-heads are cream-colored, tinged with pink; they are very fragrant and laden with nectar.
(B) White Clover (Trifolium repens) is the most common of the White Clovers. It is supposed to be indigenous in the northern parts of our range. It is highly prized as forage for cattle and is often cultivated in fields for that purpose. It is also a favorite with keepers of bees.
Its stems are smooth, reclining, and 4 to 10 inches long. The leaves are composed of three leaflets, heart-shaped or notched at the ends, and usually with a more or less distinct triangular mark in the middle. The flowers are creamy white, slightly pinkish, and very fragrant.
(A) Yellow Clover; Hop Clover (Trifolium agrarium) (European). This Clover is very common in the eastern half of the United States and southern Canada; we find it growing most abundantly along roadsides and in dry or sandy fields.
The stem is quite smooth, slender, erect, and slightly branching and grows from 6 to 15 inches high.
The flower-head is oblong, densely crowded with small, golden-yellow florets, having an alternate scaly arrangement. They bloom from the bottom of the head upward, and, as they mature, turn yellowish-brown and are reflexed, resembling dried hops. Its flowering season is from June until September.
(B) Yellow Melilot; Yellow Sweet Clover (Melilotus officinalis) (European) is a common, weed-like plant, found everywhere in waste places. The stem is tall and branching, growing from 2 to 4 feet high. The leaves are trifoliate, each leaflet being finely toothed and the middle one having a short stem with a double bend. The yellow, clover-like florets are in long, loose racemes, terminating the branches; they have a sweet fragrance.
(A) Alfalfa; Lucerne (Medicago sativa) (European) is found growing wild in waste places or fields most anywhere in our range. It makes an excellent fodder for cattle and will grow in waste, sandy places where it is impossible to raise crops of hay.
The stalk is smooth, slender, branching, and erect; it grows from 1 to 2 feet high. The leaves are three-parted, on long, slender stems with narrow stipules at their base. The purple flowers grow in short, loose racemes at the ends of the slender branches; the seed-pod is curiously twisted or coiled.
(B) Cow Vetch; Blue Vetch (Vicia Cracca) is a trailing herb with a weak, angled stem; it is common on the borders of thickets or the edges of cultivated fields. The stem grows from 2 to 3 feet long and climbs over grasses or low brush by means of small, slender tendrils at the ends of the leaves.
The compound leaves are made up of twenty to thirty small, oval leaflets, each tipped with a tiny sharp-pointed bristle. The light violet-colored, bean-like flowers grow in one-sided racemes.
(A) Ground Nut; Wild Bean (Apios tuberosa) is an exceedingly beautiful climbing vine, attaining lengths of 4 or 5 feet, crawling over walls or fences, or twisting itself about shrubs or other plants. Its pear-shaped, tuberous root is edible, as every country boy knows.
The leaves of the Ground Nut are compounded of five, or sometimes seven, ovate-pointed leaflets; they are toothless, smooth, and light green. The flowers grow in dense, rounded clusters on slender stalks from between the angles of the leaves and the plant stem, and are maroon or lilac-brown. We find Ground Nut in bloom during August and September in damp ground, usually on the borders of swamps or wet meadows, from N. B. to Minn. and southward to the Gulf.
(B) Wild or Hog Peanut (Amphicarpa monoica)is a dainty, trailing vine 2 to 7 feet long. The delicate, light-green leaves are thrice compounded, on slender stems from the angles of which are small, drooping clusters of magenta-lilac blossoms. Other fruitful blossoms at the base of the plant develop into pear-shaped pods with single large seeds.
(A) Common Flax (Linum usutatissimum) (European) This slender species is more attractive than the last because of its larger flowers. The stem is very slender, from one to two feet in height, and each of its few branches is terminated with one or two delicate, violet-blue flowers; these measure about three quarters of an inch broad, or slightly more.
This is the species that is cultivated very extensively in Europe, and less so in this country, for its linen fibre and its seed oil, both of which have a very extensive commercial use.
(B) Wild Yellow Flax (Linum virginianum) is a slender perennial species with a smooth stem from 1 to 2 feet in height. The flowers have a calyx divided into five sepals, a corolla of five petals, five stamens, and pistils, perfect and symmetrical flowers fertilized by small bees and bee-like flies. The small leaves are thin and have but one rib. This species may be found in dry woodland from Me. to Minn. and southward.
(A) White Wood Sorrel (Oxalis Acetosella) is one of the most delicate and dainty of our woodland flowers. It is commonly found in cool, damp situations and is very partial to mountainous regions. The flowers are very frail looking, about an inch broad, borne on long, slender peduncles from the root. The leaves are also on long, slender petioles from the root; they are trifoliate or clover-like, each of the three leaflets being inversely heart-shaped—that is, with the end notched and with two rounded lobes. White Wood Sorrel is found from N. S. to Saskatchewan and south to N. E., N. Y., and in mountains to N. C.
(B) Violet Wood Sorrel (Oxalis violacea). The long, slender flower stalks bear at their summits three or more pale magenta flowers, similar, except in color, but a trifle smaller than those of the white species.
The leaves of both these Sorrels are very sensitive and fold up if handled; they also close at dusk and open in the morning.
Yellow Wood Sorrel; Lady’s Sorrel (Oxalis corniculata) is not a woodland plant but is very common along roadsides, in gardens, dooryards, and fields. The pale-green, slender stem is quite erect, branches but little, if at all, and grows from three to twelve inches tall. The leaves are long-stemmed and trifoliate, the three leaflets being broadly heart-shaped. They are very sensitive and close if roughly handled.
The leaves have very acid and sour juices, similar in taste to those of the common Red Sorrel that, by the way, belong to an entirely different family (Buckwheat). Country school children often chew the leaves of both of these, as the sour taste has an agreeable twang.
The bright golden-yellow flowers are quite fragrant; they open only in the sunshine and close tightly at night. They grow in few-flowered umbels at the end of the stem on slender peduncles from the axils of some of the leaves. After their flowering season little erect, pointed pods take the place of the flowers. This species is a very common herb or weed throughout our range.
(A) Wild Geranium; Cranesbill (Geranium masculatum) is one of our most common woodland plants, flowering from May to July. The stem, the leaves, and the flower calyx are rough-hairy, the former being quite stout and branching and attaining heights of 1 to 2 feet. The large magenta or pale-purple flowers are in loose, few-flowered clusters at the ends of the branches; the petals are large and rounded and slightly overlap.
The leaves of the Geranium are very coarse and fuzzy, and the surface is often spotted with white or brown; they are palmately divided into five lobes, each of which is sharply toothed and pointed. It is very common from Me. to Manitoba and southward.
(B) Herb Robert (Geranium Robertianum) is a smaller edition of the last. Its flowers are similar, but smaller and coarser in texture. Its leaves are smaller and usually more deeply cleft. The stem is usually stained with red; both this and the leaves emit a strong odor when bruised.
Herb Robert is common from Me. to Minn. and southward.
(A) Fringed Polygala (Polygala paucifolia) is a dainty and low perennial, usually rising but four or five inches from the ground; the stem bends sharply as it enters the soil and continues into a long, slender rootstalk often a foot in length. Either one or two flowers are at the summit of the stem; they are quite large, being nearly an inch in length; the two lateral sepals are large and wing-shaped; the three petals are joined together to form a tube, through which the yellow stamens and pistil protrude. Polygala is common in damp, rich woods from N. S. to Manitoba and southward to the Gulf, flowering during May and June.
(B) Milkwort (Polygala polygama) is a slender-stemmed species from 5 to 15 inches high; the stem is closely crowded, alternately, with narrow, oval, pointed, stemless leaves. The dull crimson flowers are borne in long, slender racemes at the top of the stem. It is quite common everywhere in dry, sandy soil.
(A) Field or Purple Milkwort (Polygala sanguinea) is a sturdy little pink-headed plant that grows in fields or meadows or along roadsides.
The flowers, proper, are concealed beneath the large, broad, scale-like, crimson-pink sepals that tightly overlap each other and form the head; these scale-like sepals correspond to the wings on the Fringed Polygala, the true petals and minutely crested keel being shorter and not visible from the outside. The small, stiff, acutely pointed leaves are densely alternated on the stem up to the flower-head. The plant grows from 6 to 12 inches high, and abounds throughout the U. S.
(B) Cross-leaved Milkwort (Polygala cruciata) has spatulate-shaped leaves arranged in fours around the stem—cross-like. The stem is quite branchy, and grows from 4 to 14 inches high. At the end of each branch, seated within the four terminating leaves, is a dainty little globular pink flower-head.
We find this species around the edges of swamps or in rather moist fields, from Me. to Minn. and southward to the Gulf of Mexico, flowering from June until September.