[Illustration: PINK MILKWORT WHITE MILKWORT PURPLE MILKWORT]
Flowers pea-shaped; sepals 5, the 2 inner larger and often petal-like;
petals 3 or 5, the lower concave, often fringed; stamens 8, united,
opening by apical pores; fruit a 2-celled capsule.
Pink or Bitter Milkwort (_Polygala polygama_) is a showy-flowered
milkwort growing in sandy woods in East Texas. It has erect branches
with slender clusters of pink flowers about ¼ in. long and horizontal
branches under the soil bearing closed flowers which are
self-fertilized. It blooms in Texas in April.
White Milkwort (_Polygala alba_) has densely-flowered spikes of
greenish-white flowers, the buds often tinged with purple. A drug
obtained from the dried root is used as an irritant. Like the closely
related Seneca snake-root (_Polygala senega_), it probably contains
saponin, which will dissolve the red blood-corpuscles. The roots of the
latter are used in medicine to produce vomiting and as an antidote for
snake-bite. The white milkwort is common on prairies and chalky slopes
from Montana to Mexico from April to July.
Purple Milkwort (_Polygala puberula_) grows in the mountains of West
Texas, Arizona, and Mexico. It has much larger seed capsules than the
two preceding. The capsule is one of the chief features for identifying
the milkworts, being 2-celled and flattened.