DICOTYLEDONS. 131 



cent, usually with a dark zone near the middle; flowers in a long 

 peduncled umbel, showy, red or white, often double. Numberless 

 varieties in cultivation. 



2. P. GRAVKOLExs L'llerit. Rose Geranium. Stem erect 

 or ascending, densely pubescent, 1-3 ft. high; leaves alternate, pal- 

 nuitely lobed or divided, the lobes often finely dissected, revolute at 

 the edges; flowers umbelled, small, light puri)le with darker veins; 

 whole plant very fragrant. Common in cultivation. 



63. OXALIDACEiE. SORREL FAiMTLY. 



Low annual or perennial herbs, with acid juice, root often 

 bulbous ; leaves petioled, trifoliate ; flowers perfect, regular ; 

 sepals 5, persistent ; petals 5, deciduous ; stamens 10, mona- 

 delphous at the base, the alternate ones longer ; ovary 5- 

 celled, several-seeded, styles distinct. 



OXALIS. 



Characters of tlie family. 



1. O. viOLACEA L. Violet Wood-sokuel. Perennial, from a 

 Itulbous root, acaulescent; leaves loiig-jjetioled, leaflets obcordate, 

 sometimes slightly pubescent, often with a dark /one near the middle; 

 S(ra]>es usually longer than the jietioles, umbellately -l-lO-flowered, 

 pedicels slender; flowers violet-[»urple, nodding; petals obtuse, 2-3 

 times as long as the se])als; scai)es and jietioles 4-5 in. long. May- 

 .Inne. Common in rich woods. • 



2. O. STKICTA L. Yellow Wood-souijel. Annual or ju'ren- 

 nial; stem slender, decumbent or ascending, branching, 3-12 in. long, 

 |)ubescent with long hairs; leaves slender, }>etioled, leaflets broadly 

 obcordate, sensitive; flowers yellow, in small cymes or umbellate clus- 

 t<'i"s on axillary jteduncles longer than tlie petioles; capsule erect, 

 cylindrical, deliiscence 'oculicidal, otteii throwing the transversely 

 ridged seeds to a considerable tlistanc«'. March-Oecembt'r. Com- 

 mon in waste places. 



(ii. rutace;e. Kii: family. 



Shrubs or trees; leaves alternate, compound, exstipulate, 

 })unctate ; flowers perfect or variously imperlcct; sepals and 



