BICKNELL: FERNS AND FLOWERING PLANTS OF NANTUCKET 417 
ERODIUM CICUTARIUM (L.) L’Her. 
Mrs. Owen has recorded single plants found many years ago 
on three occasions in the town, one in 1850 and one in 1851. No 
recent collector seems to have met with it. 
OXALIDACEAE 
OXALIs sTRIcTA L. 
Common in fields and open places in all quarters of the island, 
often thriving along sandy shores; especially common on sandy 
levels about the south shore ponds. Just in flower May 30, 1909; 
June 7, 1908; in full flower June 3, 1911; flowering during the 
summer and through September; capsules full size June 18, 1908. 
For so delicate a plant this species is remarkably tenacious of 
life under hard conditions and accommodates itself as well to 
sterile and stony situations as to the rich soils of gardens and 
cultivated grounds. These adjustments are not without rather 
wide variations in habit and characters by which the species is 
marked off into several noteworthy forms. Heavy soils produce 
pale green canescent plants of large size, sometimes having a 
spread of 2.5 dm., and bearing large flowers and capsules. A 
greatly reduced form of brighter green color and with smaller 
flowers and capsules belongs to hard or gravelly soils; it is of con- 
tracted habit, often forming close mats only 5-10 cm. wide and 
ting very small crowded leaves and prostrate or even procum- 
bent and rooting stems. Another variety if, indeed, it be not of 
more moment, which I have met with only in the streets of the 
town, is of a dull green color, the comparatively few and large 
leaves pur plish tinged or even deep purple throughout; the leaflets, 
often Strongly declined, are more strongly ciliate than in the 
fommoner forms and their lower surface less distinctly cellular- 
alveolate under a lens; the flowers are large, having rather broad 
and blunt sepals, which become 7 mm. long, and the dried corollas 
‘re often upborne on the apex of the capsule; the slender styles 
are twice the length of those found in associated forms of the 
Plant and are much less spreading. 
“OXALts CYMOSA Small. 
_ Seen only in the town, where it is frequent by streetsides and 
old yards, appearing as if introduced. It develops much later 
