STUDIES OF PLANT LIFE 
AMERICAN SNAKEROOT—Polygala Senega (L.), 
already referred to, is less ornamental, though a delicate 
and graceful little plant. Like the rest of the genus, its 
root is perennial, woody, and bitter in its qualities. The 
stem is simple, wand-like, clothed with lanceolate leaves, 
and terminating in a spike of greenish-white flowers. The 
wings of this species are small, and embrace the flattened, 
less conspicuously crested keel. Its favorite haunt is 
dry upland plains, among shrubs and wild grasses; it 
blossoms later than the more showy purple Polygala, being 
seen through May and June, and later through the summer. 
Another purple-flowered species is 
SLENDER PURPLE MILKWoRT—Polygala polygama (Walt.). 
The flowers form slender racemes of violet-colored 
blossoms springing from a woody root-stock, which also bears 
mumerous inconspicuous but more fertile flowers beneath 
the ground. Its usual habitat is dry grassy banks in sandy 
or rocky ravines; all these plants seem to prefer sunshine 
to shade, and favor a light sandy, loamy soil. Several of 
the species are used as tonics and alteratives by the 
American herbalists. 
Woop ANEMONE—Anemone nemorosa (L.). 
(PLATE IL.) 
‘‘ Within the wood, 
Whose young and half-transparent leaves 
Scarce cast a shade, gay circles of anemones 
Danced on their stalks.” 
— Bryant. 
The classical name “ Anemone” is derived from a Greek 
word which signifies the wind, because it was thought that 
the flower opened out its blossoms only when the wind was 
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