HARPER'S GUIDE TO WILD FLOWERS 



Sepals and petals, 5. Stamens, 10. Sepals, tipped with a short 

 awn, rough, hairy, with the stems often reddish. A strong scent 

 pervades the plant, coming from resinous glands which are scat- 

 tered in the foliage. Flowers, small, single, or 2 or 3 together 

 among the leaves, from forking stems. Leaves, 3 to 5-divided, 

 the divisions twice dissected. June to October. 



This is one of those plants which, by the sudden, elastic 

 bursting of its pods, scatters its seed a long distance, often 

 several feet. Named after Robert, Duke of Normandy. 

 Damp, shaded woods, Quebec to New Jersey, westward to 

 Minnesota. 



Wild Cranesbill. Wild Geranium 



G. ma.cula.tum. — Color, crimson or purplish pink. Sepals, 5. 

 Petals, 5, on claws Stamens, 10, 5 longer than the others, with 

 glands at their base. Fruit, of 5 carpels, each tipped with a 

 long, hooked beak. When ripe the valves burst open elastically, 

 setting the seed free. Flowers, 1, 2, or 3 together, from rough, 

 hairy stems which grow from perennial rootstocks. The older 

 leaves become whitish. Leaves, 4 or 5-parted, the divisions 

 wedge-shaped, cut, or lobed. April to July. 



Woods, open and dry, or in fields everywhere. Very 

 common, one of the early, welcome spring flowers. The 

 flower and fruit will bear study. 



The favorite garden geraniums (pelargoniums) , with their 

 various colors and markings, are related to this humble wild 

 flower. 



G. caroliniknum. — Color, pale pink. Sepals and petals, 5, the 

 sepals hairy, pointed, equaling the corolla in length. Stamens, 

 5 or 10, with glands at their base. Ovary, 5-lobed, with 5 styles 

 which remain as tips on the long beaks of the fruit. Flowers, 

 small, in cymose heads, pedicelled, on a short common peduncle. 

 Stems, hairy, much branched, forking above. Leaves, palmately 

 5-parted, the divisions cut into long, narrow lobes. May and 

 June. 



In sterile soil or rocky places from Massachusetts south- 

 ward and westward. 



Fringed Polygala. Flowering Wintergreen 



Polygala pauciflbra. — Family, Milkwort. Color, crimson. Sepals, 

 5, but 2 of them, the wings, are colored like petals. Petals, 3, the 

 lowest, the keel, larger than the other 2, and beautifully fringed. 

 Stamens, 6. Fruit, a 1 -celled pod, notched at the top. Flowers, 



262 



