dcr
Deceased Member
Registered: February 2004
Posts: 1,317
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The Flowering Wintergreen, one of our tiniest native woodland springtime wildflowers, grows to only about 4 inches in height, but can have a root over a foot long. The pink or magenta tube-like flower is made up of 2 pink sepals, which are wing-shaped, and 3 small petals which join together to form a hollow tube - part of the third petal is fringed. Because of the 'wings', early settlers named the flower 'Bird-on-the-Wing'. They often grow in large clusters - Birds-on the Wing. Another name, Fringed Polygala, refers to the flower family (Polygala) to which they belong, and to the fringe that juts out from the front of the tube created by the 3 fused petals.
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Winnipesaukee Forum
