PINK WILD FLOWERS 
throughout the length and breadth of the iand. It is 
an immigrant from Europe, and as Theodore Roose- 
velt would say, it is an “undesirable citizen.” It 
is despised by grain-growing farmers, who everlastingly 
condemn and destroy it. It is an erect, leafy annual, 
growing from one to three feet high, and is thickly 
covered with closely adhering, whitish hairs. The 
long, narrow, pointed leaves measure from one to 
four inches in length, and a quarter of an inch or less 
in width. It is occasionally branched. The showy 
flower has five broad, rounding, flaring petals, alter- 
nating with an equal number of long, narrow leaf- 
like sepals, which extend far beyond the corolla. It 
has ten stamens and five styles. The latter alternate 
with the calyx lobes, and are opposite the petals. The 
flower is borne singly on long, stout stems, and produces 
numerous rough, black, poisonous seeds. It is found 
frequently or occasionally from July to September, 
throughout its area, but most commonly in the Central 
and Western States. It may be found in many sunny, 
waste places, but is scarce in the dry region from 
California to Texas, and eastern Kansas. The United 
States Government classes the Corn Cockle among our 
principal poisonous plants, the dangerous qualities of 
which are contained in a soluble and odourless powder, 
called saponin. It possesses a sharp, burning taste, 
and provokes violent sneezing if inhaled in the smallest 
quantity. When agitated in water, it foams like soap. 
The objectionable element is found in all parts of the 
plant. The most harmful results occur from eating 
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