Rhodora 
JOURNAL OF 
THE NEW ENGLAND BOTANICAL CLUB 
Vol. 19. March, 1917. No. 219. 
ABNORMAL FLOWER STRUCTURE IN OXALIS STRICTA L. 
H. F. BERGMAN. 
(Plate 122. 
WHILE collecting flowers for class use one day in the autumn of 1915 
the attention of the writer was attracted by the peculiar appearance of 
one or two plants of Oxalis stricta L. Curiosity as to the nature of 
this peculiarity led to a closer examination, which revealed the fact 
that it was due to the replacement of normal flowers by various 
abnormal developments and in part to the reduction in size of the 
leaves, which were also decidedly paler than ordinary leaves. 
Henri Hus (1907) has described a variant form of Oxalis stricta 
having green petals and somewhat smaller fruits. This form he named 
Oxalis stricta viridiflora. The petals of this form, in addition to the 
difference in color, differ in shape, width, distribution of the vascular 
bundles, as also in the shape of the epidermal cells, in the absence of 
ridges in the latter, number of stomata, and in the number and kinds 
of hairs present. Bartlett (1909) also reports the occurrence of 
Oxalis stricta viridiflora which, as in specimens described by Hus, 
differ from normal flowers of Oxalis stricta only in the petal characters. 
None of the specimens found by the writer possessed the green 
petals described by Hus (1907) and Bartlett (1909). The sepals and 
pistils also were distinctly different from those described by either Hus 
or Bartlett. 
Various degrees of abnormality were found, ranging from an almost 
normal condition to such wide departures from it that they bore little 
resemblance to flowers. The sepals of normal flowers are narrow and 
