YELLOW WOOD SORREL; 

 LADY'S SORREL. 



This species is not a woodland 

 plant but blooms abundantly in fields, 

 gardens and along roadsides as well. 

 From April until October the bright 

 yellow blossoms show their shining- 

 faces above the frail leaves ; they 

 023en only during sunshine and close 

 each night, at which time the leaves 

 also fold up umbrella-fashion. The 

 sensitive leaves are quite acrid, hav- 

 ing a flavor very similar to those of 

 the leaves of the common Red Sorrel. 



FRINGED POLY GAL A or 

 MILKWORT is a pretty little plant 

 growing in rich moist woods or 



swamps. The leaves and form of the plant are somewhat 

 like that of the common Wintergreen. but the leaves are 

 more pointed at the tips. The pretty pink flowers that ap- 

 pear during May and June are quite orchid-like, three of 

 the petals forming a central tube enclosing the stamens and 

 the other two wide spreading like wings,, and suggesting to 

 children the title of "Bird-on-the-wing" by which they often 

 know the plant. They also bear tiny underground flowers 

 that are self-fertilizing, while the outer ones, which are 

 borne in pairs, are dependent upon bees for transferring 

 pollen to their stigmas. 



FIELD or PURPLE MILKWORT is a sturdy little 

 pink-headed plant that grows in fields or along roadsides in 

 company with Hop or Yellow Clover and it is a singular 

 fact that the flowers of these two plants belonging to dis- 

 tinct families should be similar in form. The leafy stem 

 which grows from six to twelve inches tall, branches at the 

 top and each branch terminates in a cylindrical flower head, 

 the flowers proper being concealed beneath the pink, scale- 

 like sepals that closely overlap one another. The bloom is 

 from the bottom of the head upward, the lower rows ma- 

 turing and dropping away as the flowering continues. 



The name Poly gala is derived from the Greek, meaning 

 much milk and was given these plants since it was believed 

 cattle feeding upon them gave more plentifully. 



