(A) Field On Purple Milkwort {Polygala san- 
guinea ) is a sturdy little pink headed plant that grows 
in fields or meadows or along roadsides. 
The flowers, proper, are concealed beneath the large, 
broad, scale-like, crimson-pink sepals that tightly over¬ 
lap each other and form the head; these scale-like se¬ 
pals correspond to the wings on the Fringed Polygala, 
the true petals and minutely crested keel being shorter 
and not visible from the outside. The small, stiff, 
acutely-pointed leave? are densely alternated on the stem 
up to the flower head. The plant grows from 6 to 12 
inches high, and abounds throughout the U. S. 
(B) Cross-leaved Milkwort {Polygala cruciata) 
has spatulate-shaped leaves arranged in fours around 
the stem,—cross-like. The stem is quite branchy, and 
grows from 4 to 14 inches high. At the end of each 
branch, seated within the four terminating leaves, is a 
dainty little, globular, pink flower-head. 
We find this species around the edges of swamps or 
in rather moist fields, from Me. to Minn, and south¬ 
wards to the Gulf of Mexico, flowering from June until 
September. 
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