306 Minnesota Plant Life. 



in Minnesota and probably a fourth. In one, the white wood- 

 sorrel, found only in the northern part of the state, the flowers, 

 in general appearance like those of the flax, are white and the 

 flowering stems and leaves arise from a slender, scaly rootstock. 

 At the base of the plant are borne, on recurved pedicels, curi- 

 ous small flowers which do not open, but mature their fruits, 

 after close-pollination, from stamens developed side by side 

 with the fruit-rudiment. The other w r ood-sorrels have violet 

 flowers in one species and yellow flowers in the other. The 

 violet-flowered wood-sorrel comes from a brown bulb not un- 

 like the bulbs of certain lily-like plants. For some reason 

 bulbs are but rarely produced by plants belonging to the high- 

 est class. The violet wood-sorrel is, however, one of the excep- 

 tions. The yellow wood-sorrel is much more branched above 

 ground than the others. Its leaflets are sensitive to the touch 

 and if rubbed for a moment with the fingers they will close. 

 The yellow wood-sorrel forms slender pods; the white wood- 

 sorrel produces short and rounded pods, while the pods of the 

 violet wood-sorrel are ovoid. 



Flax. Of flax there are in Minnesota three wild species not 

 very easy to distinguish from each other. In one, the flowers 

 are blue like those of the cultivated flax, which sometimes 

 escapes as a weed. The wild blue flax may, however, be known 

 by the capsule which in fruit is much longer than the calyx. 

 Besides this variety there are two wild flaxes in which the flow- 

 ers are yellow. They may be distinguished by the length of 

 their capsules. In the grooved yellow flax the capsules are 

 from one to one and a half lines long, while in the stiff yellow 

 flax they are from two to two and a half lines long. Further- 

 more, in the grooved yellow flax the upper part of the stem 

 is clearly grooved, while in the stiff yellow flax the grooving 

 is not distinct. Flax is cultivated for fibre and for seeds. From 

 the seeds linseed-oil is manufactured, and from the fibre linen 

 is made. 



Nasturtiums. Nasturtiums, with their pretty, round, shield- 

 shaped leaves, are favorite plants in borders and window-gar- 

 dens in all parts of the state. The plant, however, is not a 

 native. Perhaps the most interesting thing about it is the great 

 sensitiveness of its leaves to the direction from which they are 



