A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 



193 



500 



Spikes pointed ; flowers greenish white 



Seneca Snakeroot no. 590 



Flower i or a few, not in spikes or racemes ; petals purple, 

 fringed ; plant prostrate Gay Wings no. 591 



585. Orange Milkwort. Polygala lutea. An annual, smooth, 

 bog herb, with alternate, oblong, or lance-shaped leaves ^- 

 iy4 in. long. Flowers small, orange-yellow, densely packed in 

 a tight spike or raceme, which terminates the naked upper 

 part of the branches, and is about % in. thick. In pine barren 

 bogs, along the coast. Long Island, N. Y., to Georgia and 

 Louisiana. August. Fig. 585. 



586. Bitter Milkwort. Polygala polygama. A stifif, almost 

 woody plant, usually 6-9 in. high, with alternate or scat- 

 tered, oblong leaves, about i in. long, and tipped with a fine 

 point. Flowers rose-purple, rarely white, in terminal rather 

 loose racemes, each stalklet of which is recurved. The plant 

 also bears tiny underground flowers that never open. In 

 dry open places. Nova Scotia to Florida, and westward. July. 

 Fig. 586. 



587. Marsh Milkwort. Polygala cruciata. A smooth an- 

 nual herb, usually branched, 6-12 in. high, and with a square 

 or angled stem. Leaves blunt, at least the lower in clusters 

 of 4, tapering towards a stalkless base. Terminal racemes 

 short-stalked, blunt, about % in. thick, purple, greenish or 

 white. In bogs. Maine to Florida, and westward. August. 

 Fig. 587. 



