PINK WILD FLOWERS 
literally carpeted with its fretwork of leaves, which are 
formed into ‘green patches, or beds of every conceiv- 
able angle where they are crisscrossed by the runways 
of deer or moose and decaying, mossy trunks of fallen 
trees. In May and June these lovely, leafy group- 
ings are starred with the strikingly large and beau- 
tiful flowers which are white, pink-tinted or veined. 
The Clover-like leaves fold downward at night, not 
unlike a clumsy umbrella. This species is native in 
Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. It was familiar 
to the old Italian masters, and was introduced into 
some of the early Christian paintings by Angelico and 
Botticelli. Oxalic acid is produced from its leaves, 
and is commonly known as Salt of Lemons, which is 
extensively used by painstaking housewives and 
laundresses for removing rust stains from linen. 
The leaves are borne on slender stems, which, rising 
from a scaly, creeping rootstock, grow to be from two 
to six inches in height. The single flower is broadly 
bell-shaped, and has five rounding, notched petals, 
with five long and five short stamens. This plant 
also bears the curious, bud-like flowers that fertilize 
themselves without opening, and which are calléd 
cleistogamic, and are borne near the root on short, 
curved stems. The name Alleluia came to be a 
favoured one in England, because the flowering 
season occurred during Easter week. Some believe 
this to be the true Shamrock of the ancient 
Irish, dating back to the time of St. Patrick. The 
White Wood Sorrel ranges from Nova Scotia to 
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