134 FAMILIAR FLOWERS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 



sarsaparilla ; any plant which appeals to his sense of 

 taste or his propensity to chew is a component part 

 of the well-digested knowledge he never learned at 



school. The rather pretty 

 balls of fine greenish-white 

 flowers of unique appear- 

 ance, which bloom in early 

 summer, will easily enable 

 one to identify the plant. 

 Flowers of Wild Sarsaparilla. The single long-stalked leaf, 

 divided into three sections 

 of about five leaflets each, is too symmetrical and 

 pronounced in character to be mistaken for that of 

 any other plant when the peculiar globes of tiny 

 flowers are seen below it. 



Hedge Bindweed. The hedge bindweed (a larger flower 

 Calystegia sepium. than the European field bindweed), 

 is very common throughout ITew England. In ap- 

 pearance the flower is exactly like a pinky-white 

 garden morning-glory, to which it is closely related ; 

 but the leaf is quite different ; it is not heart- 

 shaped, but looks more like an arrowhead. The 

 pretty vine climbs over the hedges beside the road, 

 and covers the unsightly brushwood with a glory 

 of dainty white flower bells, whose delicate pink 

 flush is unequaled by the tint of many a highly 

 cultivated garden flower. But the bindweed is a 



