STUDIES OP PLANT LIFE 

 AMERICAN SNAKEROOT Poly gala Senega (L.), 



already referred to, is less ornamental, though a delicate 

 and graceful little plant. Like the rest of the genus, its 

 root is perennial, woody, and bitter in its qualities. The 

 stem is simple, wand-like, clothed with lanceolate leaves, 

 and terminating in a spike of greenish-white flowers. The 

 wings of this species are small, and embrace the flattened, 

 less conspicuously crested keel. Its favorite haunt is 

 dry upland plains, among shrubs and wild grasses; it 

 blossoms later than the more showy purple Polygala, being 

 seen through May and June, and later through the summer. 

 Another purple-flowered species is 



SLENDER PURPLE MILKWORT Polygala polygama (Walt.). 



The flowers form slender racemes of violet-colored 

 blossoms springing from a woody root-stock, which also bears 

 numerous inconspicuous but more fertile flowers beneath 

 the ground. Its usual habitat is dry grassy banks in sandy 

 or rocky ravines; all these plants seem to prefer sunshine 

 to shade, and favor a light sandy, loamy soil. Several of 

 the species are used as tonics and alteratives by the 

 American herbalists. 



WOOD ANEMONE Anemone nemorosa (L.). 



(PLATE II.) 



" Within the wood, 



Whose young and half -transparent leaves 

 Scarce cast a shade, gay circles of anemones 

 Danced on their stalks." 



Bryant. 



The classical name " Anemone " is derived from a Greek 

 word which signifies the wind, because it was thought that 

 the flower opened out its blossoms only when the wind was 



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