PINK WILD FLOWERS 



throughout the length and breadth of the land. It is 

 an immigrant from Europe, and as Theodore Roose- 

 velt would say, it is an "undesirable citizen." It 

 is despised by grain-growing farmers, who everlastingly 

 condemn and destroy it. It is an erect, leafy annual, 

 growing from one to three feet high, and is thickly 

 covered with closely adhering, whitish hairs. The 

 long, narrow, pointed leaves measure from one to 

 four inches in length, and a quarter of an inch or less 

 in width. It is occasionally branched. The showy 

 flower has five broad, rounding, flaring petals, alter- 

 nating with an equal number of long, narrow leaf- 

 like sepals, which extend far beyond the corolla. It 

 has ten stamens and five styles. The latter alternate 

 with the calyx lobes, and are opposite the petals. The 

 flower is borne singly on long, stout stems, and produces 

 numerous rough, black, poisonous seeds. It is found 

 frequently or occasionally from July to September, 

 throughout its area, but most commonly in the Central 

 and Western States. It may be found in many sunny, 

 waste places, but is scarce in the dry region from 

 California to Texas, and eastern Kansas. The United 

 States Government classes the Corn Cockle among our 

 principal poisonous plants, the dangerous qualities of 

 which are contained in a soluble and odourless powder, 

 called saponin. It possesses a sharp, burning taste, 

 and provokes violent sneezing if inhaled in the smallest 

 quantity. When agitated in water, it foams like soap. 

 The objectionable element is found in all parts of the 

 plant. The most harmful results occur from eating 



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