Milkwort Family. — Polygalaceæ
| Flowering Wintergreen. | Polygala paucifolia. |
| Fringed Polygala. |
Found in light woods during May.
The single stalk is flattened beneath the leaf, from 3 to 5 inches in height, and slender. It is smooth, and strongly tinted with purple, even with crimson, at the foot.
The lower leaves are small, clasping, and alternate; the upper are on stems, and form a terminal cluster of 4 or 5 around the flowers,—they are oval, with an entire margin, and a thick texture, smooth, and glossy green.
The irregular-shaped flower, like a gayly colored fly, has a very delicate and fine texture, and is of an exquisite clear crimson tint, the one fringed petal being white, tinged with a light yellow-green. From 1 to 3 flowers, on their green stems, form a terminal cluster.
These flowers are the idle beauties of the plant; the unnoted homely Cinderella flower, very small, misshapen, and dull, that sits down in the dust on a little side-stem close to the root, bears the seeds. The leaves last over winter, turning a rich crimson-bronze hue, almost as brilliant as the flowers; the fresh leaves are simultaneous in growth with the blossoms, unfolding as the buds swell. White varieties are occasionally found.
Milkwort. Polygala sanguinea.
Found in moist sandy soil, in September.
The little wiry stalk, which branches near the top for the flowers, is 6 or 8 inches in height, grooved and twisted, and green in color.
The line-like leaf, with its blunt tip, and entire margin, is somewhat thick, and its green color carries a hint of crimson. The leaves are alternate, near together, and clasping.
The very small yellow petals of the flower are hidden within the calyx, two parts of which are larger than the others, and colored crimson. The flowers are so placed in a close cylindrical spike that these crimson calyx-parts are on the outside, overlapping each other in rows like tiles. These crimson spikes are on long stems that grow terminally, and from the angles of the leaves.
The flowers bloom in a single row at a time at the bottom of the spike, which prolongs itself as the buds unfold; when the seeds ripen the lowest rows fall successively, leaving the brownish stem closely beset by the little withered foot-stems of the blossoms.