(A) Fringed Polygala (Polygala paucifolia) is a dainty and low perennial, usually rising but four or five inches from the ground; the stem bends sharply as it enters the soil and continues into a long, slender rootstalk often a foot in length. Either one or two flowers are at the summit of the stem; they are quite large, being nearly an inch in length; the two lateral sepals are large and wing-shaped; the three petals are joined together to form a tube, through which the yellow stamens and pistil protrude. Polygala is common in damp, rich woods from N. S. to Manitoba and southward to the Gulf, flowering during May and June.
(B) Milkwort (Polygala polygama) is a slender-stemmed species from 5 to 15 inches high; the stem is closely crowded, alternately, with narrow, oval, pointed, stemless leaves. The dull crimson flowers are borne in long, slender racemes at the top of the stem. It is quite common everywhere in dry, sandy soil.
(A) Field or Purple Milkwort (Polygala sanguinea) 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 overlap each other and form the head; these scale-like sepals 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 leaves 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 southward to the Gulf of Mexico, flowering from June until September.
SPURGE FAMILY
(Euphorbiaceæ)
Snow-on-the-Mountain; White-edged Spurge (Euphorbia marginata) is a large, bushy herb often cultivated because of its beautiful, white-margined foliage. The stem is very stout and branchy, and grows from 2 to 3 feet high. The leaves are dark green, large, ovate-pointed, and seated on the stem; the lower ones are quite similar in shape to those of the [common Milkweed] and are alternated on the stem; those near the end of the branches are crowded, opposite, or whorled about the stem; the terminal ones have the edges of the leaves more or less widely margined with white.