OXALIDACE^ 



49 



Order XX. Balsaminacece (i genus) 



The only truly indigenous British species is the 

 Yellow Balsam (Impatiens Noli-me-tangere), which 

 is found in damp places in woods or in ditches, 

 but is not very common in our islands. The plant 

 grows to the height of one or two feet, with large 

 drooping yellow flowers, spotted with orange ; three 

 or four in a cluster. There are 3 or 5 yellow sepals, 

 the hindermost very large, produced into a spur 

 behind, and the first two very small or absent ; 

 and there are 5 petals, the lateral pairs being 

 united. There are 5 stamens, and 1 stigma, not 

 raised on a style. If the 5-lobed ripe capsule is 

 touched, it bursts open suddenly, and scatters 

 the seeds. 



Order XXI. Oxalidacece (1 genus) 



This small family, represented in Britain by the 

 single genus Oxa/is, has 5 sepals and petals of 

 equal size, and 10 stamens, united at the base; 

 the seed-capsule is long and in 5 cells, but not 



beaked. The leaves are completely divided into 

 3 leaflets of equal size. 



Procumbent Oxalis — Oxalis comiculata 



(Plate XX) 



This is a low plant, with stems about 6 inches 

 high, sometimes erect, and sometimes recumbent 

 or creeping. The leaves stand on long stalks, and 

 are trifid, the separate leaflets being again cleft, 

 and thus heart-shaped. The small yellow flowers, 

 2 to 5 in number, are placed in the axils of the 

 leaves. This plant is found occasionally on waste 

 ground in the south of England, but it is not nearly 

 so common as the Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), 

 which grows in shady woods. The latter is a low- 

 growing plant, only a few inches high, with larger 

 leaves and flowers than those of the Recumbent 

 Oxalis, rising singly from a stouter root-stalk. The 

 leaves are broad, trifoliate, and slightly notched 

 into heart-shape. The flowers are white, with a 

 slight bluish tint, and the bud is not unlike that of 

 a White Violet. The leaves have a slight acid taste, 



