More bees, flies, butterflies, and other insects visit the ladies' smock than perhaps any other crucifer found here, since it has showy flowers and so much nectar the long-persistent sepals require little pouches to hold it. No wonder this plant has triumphantly marched around the world, leaving its relatives that take less pains to woo and work insects far behind in the race. Owing to a partial revolution of the tall stamens away from the stigmas, a visitor in sipping nectar must brush off some pollen on his head or tongue, although in stormy weather, when the movement of the stamens is incomplete, self-pollination may occasionally occur, according to Muller. TWO-LEAVED TOOTHWORT; CRINKLE-ROOT (Dentaria diphylla) Mustard family Flowers - White, about 1/2 in. across, in a terminal loose cluster, the formation of each similar to that of bulbous cress. Stem: 8 to 15 in. high. Root stock: Long, crinkled, toothed, fleshy, crisp, edible. Leaves: 2, opposite or nearly so, on the stem, compounded of 3 ovate and toothed leaflets; also larger, broader leaves on larger petioles from the rootstock. Fruit: Flat, lance-shaped pods, 1 in. long or over, tipped with the slender style. Perferred Habitat - Rich leaf mould in woods, sometimes in thickets and meadows. Flowering Season - May. Distribution - Nova Scotia to the Carolinas, west to the Mississippi. Clusters of these pretty, white, cross-shaped flowers, found near the bloodroot, claytonia, anemones, and a host of other delicate spring blossoms, enter into a short but fierce competition with them for the visits of the small Andrena and Halictus bees then flying to collect nectar and pollen for a generation still unborn. In tunnels underground, or in soft, partially decayed wood, each busy little mother places the pellets of pollen and nectar paste, then when her eggs have been laid on the food supply in separate nurseries and sealed up, she dies from exhaustion, leaving her grub progeny to eat its way through the larva into the chrysalis state, and finally into that of a winged bee that flies away to liberty. These are the little bees so constantly seen about willow catkins. Country children, on their way to school through the woods, often dig up the curious, long crisp root of the toothwort, which tastes much like the water-cress, to eat with their sandwiches at the noon recess. Then, as they examine the little pointed projections on the rootstock, they see why the plant received its name.