Part 5

(A) Alsike or Alsatian Clover (_Trifolium hybridum_) (European) is quite similar to our native White Clover, but the stem is stout, branching, and juicy. The trifoliate leaves of this species are unmarked and have a simple, rounded end, not notched, but the edge of the leaf is very finely toothed. The florets composing the round flower-heads are cream-colored, tinged with pink; they are very fragrant and laden with nectar.

(B) White Clover (_Trifolium repens_) is the most common of the White Clovers. It is supposed to be indigenous in the northern parts of our range. It is highly prized as forage for cattle and is often cultivated in fields for that purpose. It is also a favorite with keepers of bees.

Its stems are smooth, reclining, and 4 to 10 inches long. The leaves are composed of three leaflets, heart-shaped or notched at the ends, and usually with a more or less distinct triangular mark in the middle. The flowers are creamy white, slightly pinkish, and very fragrant.

(A) Yellow Clover; Hop Clover (_Trifolium agrarium_) (European). This Clover is very common in the eastern half of the United States and southern Canada; we find it growing most abundantly along roadsides and in dry or sandy fields.

The stem is quite smooth, slender, erect, and slightly branching and grows from 6 to 15 inches high.

The flower-head is oblong, densely crowded with small, golden-yellow florets, having an alternate scaly arrangement. They bloom from the bottom of the head upward, and, as they mature, turn yellowish-brown and are reflexed, resembling dried hops. Its flowering season is from June until September.

(B) Yellow Melilot; Yellow Sweet Clover (_Melilotus officinalis_) (European) is a common, weed-like plant, found everywhere in waste places. The stem is tall and branching, growing from 2 to 4 feet high. The leaves are trifoliate, each leaflet being finely toothed and the middle one having a short stem with a double bend. The yellow, clover-like florets are in long, loose racemes, terminating the branches; they have a sweet fragrance.

(A) Alfalfa; Lucerne (_Medicago sativa_) (European) is found growing wild in waste places or fields most anywhere in our range. It makes an excellent fodder for cattle and will grow in waste, sandy places where it is impossible to raise crops of hay.

The stalk is smooth, slender, branching, and erect; it grows from 1 to 2 feet high. The leaves are three-parted, on long, slender stems with narrow stipules at their base. The purple flowers grow in short, loose racemes at the ends of the slender branches; the seed-pod is curiously twisted or coiled.

(B) Cow Vetch; Blue Vetch (_Vicia Cracca_) is a trailing herb with a weak, angled stem; it is common on the borders of thickets or the edges of cultivated fields. The stem grows from 2 to 3 feet long and climbs over grasses or low brush by means of small, slender tendrils at the ends of the leaves.

The compound leaves are made up of twenty to thirty small, oval leaflets, each tipped with a tiny sharp-pointed bristle. The light violet-colored, bean-like flowers grow in one-sided racemes.

(A) Ground Nut; Wild Bean (_Apios tuberosa_) is an exceedingly beautiful climbing vine, attaining lengths of 4 or 5 feet, crawling over walls or fences, or twisting itself about shrubs or other plants. Its pear-shaped, tuberous root is edible, as every country boy knows.

The leaves of the Ground Nut are compounded of five, or sometimes seven, ovate-pointed leaflets; they are toothless, smooth, and light green. The flowers grow in dense, rounded clusters on slender stalks from between the angles of the leaves and the plant stem, and are maroon or lilac-brown. We find Ground Nut in bloom during August and September in damp ground, usually on the borders of swamps or wet meadows, from N. B. to Minn. and southward to the Gulf.

(B) Wild or Hog Peanut (_Amphicarpa monoica_)is a dainty, trailing vine 2 to 7 feet long. The delicate, light-green leaves are thrice compounded, on slender stems from the angles of which are small, drooping clusters of magenta-lilac blossoms. Other fruitful blossoms at the base of the plant develop into pear-shaped pods with single large seeds.

FLAX FAMILY (_Linaceæ_)

(A) Common Flax (_Linum usutatissimum_) (European) This slender species is more attractive than the last because of its larger flowers. The stem is very slender, from one to two feet in height, and each of its few branches is terminated with one or two delicate, violet-blue flowers; these measure about three quarters of an inch broad, or slightly more.

This is the species that is cultivated very extensively in Europe, and less so in this country, for its linen fibre and its seed oil, both of which have a very extensive commercial use.

(B) Wild Yellow Flax (_Linum virginianum_) is a slender perennial species with a smooth stem from 1 to 2 feet in height. The flowers have a calyx divided into five sepals, a corolla of five petals, five stamens, and pistils, perfect and symmetrical flowers fertilized by small bees and bee-like flies. The small leaves are thin and have but one rib. This species may be found in dry woodland from Me. to Minn. and southward.

WOOD SORREL FAMILY (_Oxalidaceæ_)

(A) White Wood Sorrel (_Oxalis Acetosella_) is one of the most delicate and dainty of our woodland flowers. It is commonly found in cool, damp situations and is very partial to mountainous regions. The flowers are very frail looking, about an inch broad, borne on long, slender peduncles from the root. The leaves are also on long, slender petioles from the root; they are trifoliate or clover-like, each of the three leaflets being inversely heart-shaped—that is, with the end notched and with two rounded lobes. White Wood Sorrel is found from N. S. to Saskatchewan and south to N. E., N. Y., and in mountains to N. C.

(B) Violet Wood Sorrel (_Oxalis violacea_). The long, slender flower stalks bear at their summits three or more pale magenta flowers, similar, except in color, but a trifle smaller than those of the white species.

The leaves of both these Sorrels are very sensitive and fold up if handled; they also close at dusk and open in the morning.

Yellow Wood Sorrel; Lady’s Sorrel (_Oxalis corniculata_) is not a woodland plant but is very common along roadsides, in gardens, dooryards, and fields. The pale-green, slender stem is quite erect, branches but little, if at all, and grows from three to twelve inches tall. The leaves are long-stemmed and trifoliate, the three leaflets being broadly heart-shaped. They are very sensitive and close if roughly handled.

The leaves have very acid and sour juices, similar in taste to those of the common Red Sorrel that, by the way, belong to an entirely different family (Buckwheat). Country school children often chew the leaves of both of these, as the sour taste has an agreeable twang.

The bright golden-yellow flowers are quite fragrant; they open only in the sunshine and close tightly at night. They grow in few-flowered umbels at the end of the stem on slender peduncles from the axils of some of the leaves. After their flowering season little erect, pointed pods take the place of the flowers. This species is a very common herb or weed throughout our range.

(A) Wild Geranium; Cranesbill (_Geranium masculatum_) is one of our most common woodland plants, flowering from May to July. The stem, the leaves, and the flower calyx are rough-hairy, the former being quite stout and branching and attaining heights of 1 to 2 feet. The large magenta or pale-purple flowers are in loose, few-flowered clusters at the ends of the branches; the petals are large and rounded and slightly overlap.

The leaves of the Geranium are very coarse and fuzzy, and the surface is often spotted with white or brown; they are palmately divided into five lobes, each of which is sharply toothed and pointed. It is very common from Me. to Manitoba and southward.

(B) Herb Robert (_Geranium Robertianum_) is a smaller edition of the last. Its flowers are similar, but smaller and coarser in texture. Its leaves are smaller and usually more deeply cleft. The stem is usually stained with red; both this and the leaves emit a strong odor when bruised.

Herb Robert is common from Me. to Minn. and southward.

MILKWORT FAMILY (_Polygalaceæ_)

(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.

The flowers are rather small, grouped in clusters in the centre of the terminal cluster of margined leaves. The staminate and pistillate flowers are on different plants. The involucre is five-parted and has five white petals.

When broken both the leaves and stems exude quantities of a milky juice. This species of Spurge grows in dry soil from Minn. and Ohio west to Colorado, and is sometimes found in parts of the East.

JEWEL-WEED FAMILY (_Balsaminaceæ_)

Jewel-weed; Spotted Touch-me-not (_Impatiens biflora_) is a common rank-growing herb with a stout but fragile branching stem. The large, inflated flower-sac, which is really one of the three sepals, is orange-yellow, spotted with brown. Two of these singular flowers droop from the ends of each thread-like peduncle, but only one flowers at a time.

The slim seed-pod is the cause of two very commonly applied names—Touch-me-not and Snapweed. When nearly ripe these pods can scarcely be touched but what they will suddenly, almost explosively, burst and scatter their seeds in all directions. One not acquainted with their ways is always startled when he accidentally brushes against the mature Touch-me-not.

The leaves are very delicate in appearance, and their light, slender stems are almost translucent; they are ovate, round-toothed, dull-green above, and whitish-green below. Common in shady places throughout the United States.

MALLOW FAMILY (_Malvaceæ_)

Common Mallow; Cheeses (_Malva rotundifolia_) (European) is a very common weed about dooryards, especially in the country, and along the edges of cultivated fields. The long stalks spring from biennial roots and creep over the ground, the branches being 6 to 24 inches in length. The dark-green, round leaves are very handsome; they have a shallow-lobed and very firmly toothed edge and are deeply, palmately ribbed. The leaves, their stems and the plant stems are rather rough.

The small, widespread, bell-shaped flowers are clustered close to the stalk on short stems from the axils of the leaves. The five petals have notched tips, are white, delicately tinted with pink or pale magenta, and have veinings of a deeper shade. The seed is hard, flat, and rounded, composed of a dozen or more carpels; it is eaten by children with great relish, these being the “cheeses” that give the species one of its common names.

(A) High Mallow (_Malva sylvestris_) (European) is a tall biennial with a coarse branching stem, often attaining a height of 3 feet, or even more on waste land. Both the stems and the leaves have a thick covering of hair. The flowers grow in clusters of perhaps a half-dozen from the axils of the leaves; they have five heart-shaped petals of a purplish color, with two or three conspicuous veins of a darker shade.

The Mallows get their generic name of Malva, in allusion to the soothing effect of the mucilaginous juices of the root and stem.

(B) Musk Mallow (_Malva moschata_) (European) is a similar species with the leaves deeply and palmately slashed and toothed. Several hairy branching stems proceed from the perennial root to heights of 1 or 2 feet. The flowers are peculiar in that the ends of each of the five rose-colored petals are roughly notched, looking as though they had been bitten off.

This species received its name from the fact that when the leaves are crushed they give forth a slight odor of musk. It is quite abundant in northern New England and southern Canada.

Rose Mallow (_Hibiscus Moscheutos_) is a tall, leafy perennial, bearing flowers that easily rank as being among the largest and most beautiful of any of our wild flowers. The stem is quite stout and inclined to be hairy. The large leaves are ovate-pointed and toothed; they are stemmed, and alternate along the main plant stalk. The lower ones are often three-lobed.

The flowers grow on short stems at the end of the upright stalk. But one usually blooms at a time and there are not a great many buds; what they lack in profusion of bloom this species fully makes up in size, for its blossoms measure 4 to 6 inches across. The five large petals are a delicate rose color, conspicuously veined, and often with crimson bases. The long, slender pistil divides at the tip into five flat-headed stigmas; for more than half its length it is encased in the long stamen column, the sides of which are covered with yellow anthers.

The Rose Mallow grows in swamps and marshes near the coast, from Mass. southward, and along the shores of the Great Lakes to Mich. It blooms from July to September.

ST. JOHNSWORT FAMILY (_Hypericaceæ_)

Common St. Johnswort (_Hypericum perforatum_) (European) is a wanderer from the Old World that, having reached our hospitable shores, proceeded to multiply and overrun the native plants so that it is now regarded by farmers as a pest along with the Wild Carrot and Mustard. If it is true that in the struggle for existence the fittest survive, then surely this species must be one of the fittest; we often see it growing lustily in circumstances under which few plants could exist. It grows promiscuously in fields or along roadsides. Even a generous sprinkling of tarvia, received when the roads were sprinkled, failed to kill this plant, although many other species died from the effects.

It has a slender but tough stem from 1 to 2 feet high; it has numerous short branches, each crowded with tiny, stiff, oval leaves. The upper branches terminate in clusters of five-parted, golden-yellow flowers with numerous long yellow stamens. This species blooms from July until September.

(A) Marsh St. Johnswort (_Hypericum virginicum_). The stem is slender, erect, and from 1 to 2 feet in height, growing from perennial running rootstalks. The comparatively large leaves are light green with brownish spots and a white bloom on the underside; they are closely set, oppositely, on the stem.

The flowers are in small clusters terminating the branches; the five petals are of a pinkish, flesh color and surround three groups of golden-yellow stamens. Common in moist places.

(B) St. Johnswort (_Hypericum ellipticum_) has a simple usually four-angled stem, sometimes with a single branch near the top. It grows from 8 to 20 inches high and is quite leafy. The leaves are comparatively large, about the same shape as those of Marsh St. Johnswort. At the top are a few five-petalled flowers with bright golden-yellow stamens. The ovoid pods succeeding the flowers are brownish. This species is found in damp places or along streams from Me. to Minn. and south to Pa.

ROCKROSE FAMILY (_Cistaceæ_)

(A) Frostweed: Rockrose (_Helianthemum canadense_). This little perennial is very remarkable and unique, because late in autumn crystals of ice form about the cracked bark of the root. It is also remarkable for the fact that it has two sets of flowers, the first ones in June and later ones in July or August.

The leaves are small, oblong-lanceolate, hoary with white hairs on the underside, alternating along the stem that rises from 10 to 18 inches high. Both the early and late flowers are fertile. Frostweed grows in sandy, dry soil from Me. to Minn. and southward.

(B) Hudsonia (_Hudsonia tomentosa_) is a low-branching, little shrub rising only 5 or 10 inches above ground. Its branching stems are closely crowded with tiny, scale-like oval leaves about one half inch long.

The small yellow flowers that are crowded along the ends of the branches open only in sunshine; the five tiny yellow petals surround numerous stamens and a long, slender style. Hudsonia is found on sandy shores from N. B. to Va., and along the Great Lakes.

VIOLET FAMILY (_Violaceæ_)

(A) Bird-foot Violet (_Viola pedata_) is a well-known and very characteristic Violet. The flowers of this species are the largest of the blue Violets; they are blue-violet or purple-violet and have a bright orange centre, formed by the large anthers.

The leaves grow on long petioles, in dense tufts, from the root; each leaf is cut into five to eleven parts, all sharply pointed, and the middle and lateral ones with their ends notched or cleft.

(B) Early Blue Violet; Palmated Violet (_Viola palmata_) has slightly smaller blue flowers with bearded side petals.

The basal leaves are very variable in shape, ranging from heart-shaped with rounded teeth and an unbroken edge to palmately cleft ones with five or seven rounded lobes. Both of these Violets are common in dry ground, the former in fields or the borders of swamps, and the latter usually in thin woodland, from Me. to Minn. and southward.

(A) Common Violet (_Viola cucullata_) is the commonest and best known of all the Violets. It grows in low land everywhere—in woods, meadows, marshes, or along roadsides. It is a very beautiful and variable species both as to size and color of blossoms and to shape of the leaves.

The flowers are sometimes a deep purple and again may be a light blue, or even nearly white. The two upper petals are usually darker near the throat; the three lower ones shade to white at the throat, the side ones being beautifully fringed or bearded. The leaves are usually heart-shaped, round-toothed, and concave or furled; they are on long stems from the base.

(B) Canada Violet (_Viola canadensis_) is the most common of the leafy-stemmed blue Violets. You will notice that the preceding species all had their leaves from the base, and the flowers nodding on slender scapes, while this one has leaves growing on the slender stem and flowers above them on peduncles, springing from the angles of the leaves. This species is quite common in woods throughout the United States.

(A) Sweet White Violet (_Viola blanda_) is the most fragrant of our wild Violets, regardless of color. It is a most charming plant, but very diminutive, in fact, it is probably the smallest of the entire family. Occasionally we may find them in some exceptionally favorable locality growing to a height of perhaps 6 inches, but the usual height will barely exceed 2 inches. The plant is stemless, that is, the leaf stems and flower stalks all spring directly from the root.

The leaves of the common White Violet are rounded heart-shaped with slightly scalloped or round-toothed edges. It is very common in swamps and moist woods throughout the United States and southern Canada.

(B) Lance-leaved Violet (_Viola lanceolata_) is a taller, more slender species growing from 3 to 8 inches high. Its leaves are lance-shaped, scallop-edged, and on long stems from the root. The white flowers are only slightly fragrant; the three lower petals are strongly veined with purple and the two side ones are rarely bearded. It is commonly found in swamps and moist ground from N. S. to Minn. and southward, flowering from April to June.

Downy Yellow Violet (_Viola pubescens_) is a large, very handsome Violet that prefers, for its habitat, dry, hilly woods, often by the side of rushing brooks, but not usually where the soil is moist.

The Yellow Violet is one of the tallest members of the family, its stem ranging from 6 to 18 inches in length. Both the stems and the leaves are wooly-hairy. There are from two to four leaves growing from the stem near its summit; they are heart-shaped, pointed, and either toothed or scalloped. The flowers, rising on slender peduncles from the axils of the leaves, are rather large and bright yellow; the two lateral petals are heavily bearded and the lower one is handsomely veined with purple. These beards compel visiting insects to brush against the stigma and then against the anthers before reaching the nectar in the short spur.

Most of the Violets, during the summer, have apetalous or cleistogamous flowers on short peduncles from the root; these never open, but are fertilized in the bud. Common from N. S. to Manitoba and southward.

LOOSESTRIFE FAMILY (_Lythraceæ_)

Purple or Spiked Loosestrife (_Lythrum Salicaria_) (European). Undoubtedly this species, which came to us from Europe, is the most beautiful of the genus.

The plant grows from 2 to 4 feet high and branches toward the top. The many purple flowers, making up the spike, each have six long petals and are trimorphous, that is, flowers on the same plant, have, relatively, three different lengths of stamens and pistils. Purple Loosestrife is found locally in swamps and on marshy borders of streams from Me. to Del. and westward.