WILD FLOWERS PINK 
ground runners or stolens. The roots have some 
medicinal value as a tonic, and when placed in water 
and agitated, they form a soaplike lather — a peculiarity 
that gives rise to the common names of Soaproot and 
Latherwort. The slightly grooved, erect stem is 
‘smooth, stout and leafy. It is sparingly branched, 
and grows one or two feet high. It is noticeably swollen 
at the joints, and is green in colour, sometimes stained 
with red. The thick-textured, tapering oval leaves 
grow alternately in pairs, and graduate as they mount 
the stalk. Their smooth surface shows three or five 
distinct ribs, and the margins are entire or very faintly 
scalloped. ‘They unite at the base where they narrow 
into broad, short, clasping petioles. The showy, 
fragrant flowers are about an inch broad and are pink 
in colour, becoming white in proportion to the amount 
of shade in which they grow. The thin-textured petals 
are generally notched, and taper clawlike to their 
narrow, pointed base within a long, pale green, finely 
veined, five-toothed tubular calyx, from which they 
emerge and spread at right angles. At the top of the 
claw where the petals widen, they are crowned with 
two little, thread-like appendages. The ten yellowish 
stamens are divided into five long and five short sets, 
the former of which mature before the latter. The 
pistil has two recurving points or styles. The flowers 
are borne in a loose, terminal head, with many small 
bracts or floral leaves. A short, slender stem connects 
the calyx with the stalk, which it joins at the axil of 
the smaller leaves. This short flower stem usually 
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