WILD FLOWERS OF NEW YORK 157 



Violet Wood Sorrel 



lojioxaHs violacea (Linnaeus) Small 



Plate r2ra 



Flowering stalks and leaves smooth, 3 to 8 inches tall, arising from a 

 perennial, brownish, scaly bulb. Leaves few or several, slender-stemmed, 

 one-half to ij inches wide. Leaflets three, broader than long, notched at 

 the apex. Flowers three to ten, or rarely more on each stalk, forming a 

 loose, umbellate inflorescence at the summit, which is taller than the leaves. 

 Each flower two-thirds to three-fourths of an inch long on a short, slender 

 pedicel; sepals blunt, five in number, with tubercles at the apex; petals five, 

 rose-purple, lighter toward the base, blunt, about three times as long as the 

 sepals; stamens ten; capsule ovoid, about one-fifth of an inch in diameter. 



In open, usually rather dry woodlands, shaded hillsides and thickets; 

 sometimes in open, recently cleared land, Massachusetts to Florida and 

 Texas, west to Minnesota. Flowering in May and June. 



Tall Yellow Wood Sorrel 



Xanthoxalis cymosa Small 



Plate I2ib 



Stems ascending or erect, branched above, 6 inches to 3 or 4 feet high 

 and frequently reclining on surrounding vegetation, usually hairy, reddish 

 or brown. Leaves bright green, three-fourths to i^ inches broad on petioles 

 I to 3 inches long; leaflets broader than long, sharply notched. Flowers 

 yellow, in forking cymes; each flower on a pedicel one-fourth to one-third 

 of an inch long, which is more or less hairy and erect or ascending. Sepals 

 five, lanceolate or narrowly elliptic, one-sixth to one-fourth of an inch long, 

 spreading in fruit; petals five, obtuse or notched at the apex, one-third to 

 nearly one-half of an inch long. Fruit a slender, columnar, erect capsule, 

 about one-half of an inch long, gradually narrowed to the summit; seeds 

 obovoid-oblong with nearly continuous ridges. 



In fields, thickets and woods, Ontario to Michigan, south to Florida 

 and Texas. Flowering from May to October. 



