C *55 ] 



Oxalis Versicolor. Striped-Flower'd 



Wood-Sorrel. 



|t fr f t <t ♦ ♦ # l i t $ ♦♦ ♦ $ ♦ ♦ ft ♦♦ ft 



C7#/} #«</ Order. 

 Decandria Pentagynia. 



Generic Characler. 



Cal. 5-phyllus. Petala unguibus connexa. Cap/, angulis ; 

 dehifcens, 5-gona. 



Specific Charatler and, Synonyms. 

 OXALIS verficolor caule ere£to hirto, pedunculis unifloris, 

 foliis ternatis : foliolis linearibus callofis. Linn. 

 Syft Veg. ed. 14. Murr. p. 114. p. 434. Ait. Hort. ■ 

 Kcvo. v. 2. p. 114. 

 OXYS Africana foliis tenuiflimis, flore amplo verficolore. j 



Pluk. Amalth. 169. /. 434. f. 5. 

 OXYS Africana foliis tenuiflimis in fummitate caulis. Rait ! 

 Suppl. 598. 



The Oxalis verficolor is confidered as one of the mod beau- 

 tiful of the many fpecies cultivated in gardens ; and, though 1 

 well known to, and defcribed by feveral of the older Botanifts> | 

 has graced our collections bat a few years, being introduced ] 

 to the Royal Garden at Kew, from the Cape (where, as well I 

 as in Ethiopia, it grows fpontaneoufly) by Mr. Masson, m [ 

 the Year 1774. 



Many of this genus flower early in the fpring, the feafon 

 in which this fpecies alfo puts forth its bloffoms, but by dex- 

 terous management it may be made to flower during moft o» 

 the year; and this is effected by placing the pea-like tubera or j 

 knobs which the root fends forth, and by which the plant is 

 propag'ated, in pots filled with loam and bog-earth at flated • 

 diftant periods. 



Like moll of the Cape plants, it is well adapted to the 

 greenhoufe, and fucceeds beft when placed on a fro nt » 

 fhelf of the houfe, where it can have plenty of light and air; > 

 fome keep it in the ftove, but there the plant is drawn up, and | 

 the flowers lofe a part of their brilliancy : in no fituation do 

 they ever expand but when the fun fhines on them ; this is the | 

 lefs to be regretted, as they are moft beautiful when clofed. 



