112 A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 



(S. purpureiim) with purplish flowers, and leaves toothed 

 nearly to the base, is found in fields and roadsides from 

 Quebec and Ontario to Maryland and Michigan. 



319. Flax. Linmn usitatissimum. (Linaceac.) A wand-like 

 erect but weak herb, slightly branching, not over 18 in. tall. 

 Leaves alternate, pointed at both ends, stalkless, about }i in. 

 long and half as wide, often 3-veined. Flowers blue, about 

 ^ in. across, usually solitary on a short stalk near the upper 

 leaf bases. Sepals and petals 5 each, separate. August. In 

 waste places as an escape from cultivation. Native of Europe 

 and the source of linen. Fig. 319. Its yellow-flowered Amer- 

 ican relative is treated at No. 335. 



320. PoKEWEED. Phytolacca americana. (Phytolacca decan- 

 dra.) (Phytolaccaceae.) A coarse stout herb 4-8 ft. high 

 with an erect branching stem, and a poisonous root. Leaves 

 8-12 in. long, about Ys as wide, gradually pointed both ends, 

 stalked, and without teeth. Flowers in terminal ample racemes. 

 Petals none, but the 5 sepals white and petal-like. Fruit a 

 fleshy berry, about ^ in. in diameter, its copious juice stain- 

 ing dark purple. June-Sept. From Maine and Ontario to 

 Florida, mostly in waste places as a weed, but appearing wild 

 among the sea beach dunes. Fig. 320. 



321. MALLOWS. MALVACEAE. 



Herbs or shrubs (often trees in the tropics) with mostly 

 alternate leaves, the principal veins of which all arise at the 

 base of the blade. Flowers solitary, or in small clusters, often 

 very showy, as in the cultivated mallows. Sepals 5, often with 

 another series of bracts below them. Petals 5, separate above, 

 but all more or less united towards the base. Stamens numer- 

 ous, all joined into a central tube from which the pistil 

 protrudes, or in which it may be partly hidden. Fruit a 

 several -celled capsule, see fig. 323. There are many species 

 and genera. The following are separated thus : 



Plants 2>^-7 ft; tall. 

 Flowers i-V/z in. broad Marsh-mallow no. 322 



