Milkwort.Polygala sanguinea.
Found in moist sandy soil, in September.
The little wiry stalk, which branches near the top for the flowers, is 6 or 8 inches in height, grooved and twisted, and green in color.
The line-like leaf, with its blunt tip, and entire margin, is somewhat thick, and its green color carries a hint of crimson. The leaves are alternate, near together, and clasping.
The very small yellow petals of the flower are hidden within the calyx, two parts of which are larger than the others, and colored crimson. The flowers are so placed in a close cylindrical spike that these crimson calyx-parts are on the outside, overlapping each other in rows like tiles. These crimson spikes are on long stems that grow terminally, and from the angles of the leaves.
The flowers bloom in a single row at a time at the bottom of the spike, which prolongs itself as the buds unfold; when the seeds ripen the lowest rows fall successively, leaving the brownish stem closely beset by the little withered foot-stems of the blossoms.