Magenta to Pink > 



clear — but because feeding on them is supposed to increase tiie ,i 

 flow of cattle's milk. 



In sandy swamps, especially near the coast from Maine to 



the Gulf, and westward to the Mississippi, grows the Marsh or ; 



Cross-leaved Milkwort {P. cniciata). Most of its leaves, espe- '■ 



cially the lower ones, are in whorls of four, and from July to i 



September its dense, bright purple-pink, white, or greenish flower- ■ 



heads, the wings awn-pointed, are seated on the ends of the \ 



square branching stem of this low, mossy little plant. • 



Fringed Milkwort or Polygala; Floweringr Win- 



tergreen ; Gay Wings ^f^ 



{Polygala paucifolia) Milkwort family ; 



Flowers — Purplish rose, rarely white, showy, over Y-z in. long, j 



from I to 4 on short, slender peduncles from among upper I 

 leaves. Calyx of s unequal sepals, of which 2 are wing-like 



and highly colored like petals. Corolla irregular, its crest ; 



finely fringed; 6 stamens; i pistil. Also pale, pouch-like, ; 



cleistogamous flowers underground. Stem : Prostrate, 6 to ; 



1 5 in. long, slender, from creeping rootstock, sending up ' 



flowering shoots 4 to 7 in. high. Leaves : Clustered at sum- 1 



mit, oblong, or pointed egg-shaped, i Yz in. long or less ; '' 



those on lower part of shoots scale-like. < 



Preferred Habitat — Moist, rich woods, pine lands, light soil. > 



Flowering Season — May — ^July. 



Distribution — Northern Canada, southward and westward to ] 



Georgia and Illinois. ' ; 



Gay companies of these charming, bright little blossoms hid- ! 

 den away in the woods suggest a swarm of tiny mauve butter- ' 

 flies that have settled among the wintergreen leaves. Unlike 

 the common milkwort and many of its kin that grow in clover- 

 like heads, each one of the gay wings has beauty enough to stand , 

 alone. Its oddity of structure, its lovely color and enticing fringe, , 

 lead one to suspect it of extraordinary desire to woo some insect I 

 that will carry its pollen from blossom to blossom and so enable ,. 

 the plant to produce cross-fertilized seed to counteract the evil 1 

 tendencies resulting from the more prolific self-fertilized cleis- '\ 

 togamous flowers buried in the ground below. It has been said \ 

 that the fringed polygala keeps "one flower for beauty and one ' 

 for use"; "one playful flower for the world, another for serious i 

 use and posterity " ; but surely the showy flowers, the "giddy ; 

 sisters," borne by all cleistogamous species to save them from ' \ 

 degenerating through close inbreeding, are no idle, irresponsible .] 



