Magenta to Pink 



on its stem. Both plants bear erect, rather slender, tapering 

 pods. 



The Poke, or Tall Milkweed (/^. exaltata) — A. phytolaecoides 

 of Gray — may attain a height of six feet if the moist soil in which 

 it grows be exactly to its liking. Drooping or spreading umbels 

 of flowers whose corolla segments are pale purplish green, and 

 whose crown is clear ivory white or pink, appear from June to 

 August from Maine to Georgia and far westward. Sometimes the 

 tapering oblong leaves may be nine inches long. The erect seed- 

 pods are drawn out to an unusually long point. 



One may always distinguish the low-growing Four-leaved 

 Milkweed {^A. quadrifolia) from its relatives of ranker growth by 

 its general air of refinement, as well as by the two pairs of thin, 

 tapering leaves that grow in an upright whorl near the middle of 

 the slender stem. Usually there are no leaves on the lower part. 

 Small terminal umbels of delicate pink and white fragrant flow- 

 ers, which appear from May till July, give place to very narrow 

 pointed pods in late summer. From Maine to Ontario southward 

 to North Carolina and Arkansas is its range, in woods and thickets 

 chiefly. 



Hedge or Great Bindweed ; Wild Morning- 

 glory; Rutland Beauty; Bell-bind; Lady's 

 Nightcap 



{Convolvulus septum) Morning-glory family 

 {Calystegia septum of Gray) 



Flowers — Light pink, with white stripes or all white, bell-shaped, 

 about 2 in. long, twisted in the bud, solitary, on long peduncles 

 from leaf axils. Calyx of 5 sepals, concealed by 2 large bracts 

 at base. Corolla 5-lobed, the 5 included stamens inserted 

 on its tube ; style with 2 oblong stigmas. Stem: Smooth 

 or hairy, 3 to 10 ft. long, twining or trailing over ground. 

 Leaves: Triangular or arrow-shaped, 2 to 5 in. long, on slen- 

 der petioles. 



Preferred Habitat— V^&y side hedges, thickets, fields, walls. 



Flowering Season — June — September. 



Distribution — Nova Scotia to North Carolina, westward to Ne- 

 braska. Europe and Asia. 



No one need be told that the pretty, bell-shaped pink and 

 white flower on the vigorous vine clambering over stone walls 

 and winding about the shrubbery of wayside thickets in a sulfo- 



«39 



