Magenta to Pink 



reciprocally adapted to each other, but on different plants in the 

 same neighborhood. The two are essentially alike, except in ar- 

 rangement of stamens and pistil; one flower having high anthers 

 and low stigmas, the other having lower anthers and higher stig- 

 mas; and as the high stigmas are fertile only when pollenized with 

 grains from a flower having high anthers, it is evident insect aid to 

 transfer pollen is indispensable here. Small bees, which visit these 

 blossoms abundantly, are their benefactors ; although there is noth- 

 ing to prevent pollen from falling on the stigmas of the short-styled 

 form. Hildebrand proved that productiveness is greatest, or exists 

 only, after legitimate fertilization. To accomplish cross-pollination, 

 many plants bear flowers of opposite sexes on different individuals ; 

 but the violet wood-sorrel's plan, utilized by the bluet and partridge- 

 vine also, has the advantage in that both kinds of its flowers are 

 fruitful. 



Common, Field, or Purple Milkwort; Purple 

 Polygala 



(Polygala viridescens) Milkwort family 

 (P. sanguined of Gray) 



Flowers Numerous, very small, variable; bright magenta, pink, or 

 almost red, or pale to whiteness, or greenish, clustered in a 

 globular clover-like head, gradually lengthening to a cylindric 

 spike. Stem: 6 to 1 5 in. high, smooth, branched above, leafy. 

 Leaves: Alternate, narrowly oblong, entire. (Illustration 

 facing p. 1 08.) 



Preferred Habitat Fields and meadows, moist or sandy. 



Flowering Season June September. 



Distribution Southern Canada to North Carolina, westward to 

 the Mississippi. 



When these bright clover-like heads and the inconspicuous 

 greenish ones grow together, the difference between them is so 

 striking it is no wonder Linnaeus thought they were borne by 

 two distinct species, sanguined and viridescens, whereas they are 

 now known to be merely two forms of the same flower. At first 

 glance one might mistake the irregular little blossom for a mem- 

 ber of the pea family ; two of the five very unequal sepals not 

 petals are colored wings. These bright-hued calyx-parts over- 

 lap around the flower-head like tiles on a roof. Within each 

 pair of wings are three petals united into a tube, split on the back, 

 to expose the vital organs to contact with the bee, the milkwort's 

 best friend. 



Plants of this genus were named polygala, the Greek for 

 much milk, not because they have milky juice for it is bitter and 



no 



