_Polygala paucifolia_
_Flowers_--Purplish rose, rarely white, showy, over 1/2 in. long, from 1
to 4 on short, slender peduncles from among upper leaves. Calyx of 5
unequal sepals, of which 2 are wing-like and highly colored like petals.
Corolla irregular, its crest finely fringed; 6 stamens; 1 pistil. Also
pale, pouch-like, cleistogamous flowers underground. _Stem_: Prostrate,
6 to 15 in. long, slender, from creeping rootstock, sending up flowering
shoots 4 to 7 in. high. _Leaves_: Clustered at summit, oblong, or
pointed egg-shaped, 1-1/2 in. long or less; those on lower part of
shoots scale-like.
_Preferred Habitat_--Moist, rich woods, pine lands, light soil.
_Flowering Season_--May-July.
_Distribution_--Northern Canada, southward and westward to Georgia
and Illinois.
Gay companies of these charming, bright little blossoms hidden away in
the woods suggest a swarm of tiny mauve butterflies that have settled
among the wintergreen leaves. Unlike the common milkwort and many of its
kin that grow in clover-like heads, each one of the gay wings has
beauty enough to stand alone. Its oddity of structure, its lovely color
and enticing fringe, lead one to suspect it of extraordinary desire to
woo some insect that will carry its pollen from blossom to blossom and
so enable the plant to produce cross-fertilized seed to counteract the
evil tendencies resulting from the more prolific self-fertilized
cleistogamous flowers buried in the ground below.