PELAKGONIUM QTJERCIFOLIUM. 



grand store-house from which are drawn the elements of every vegetable product. 

 Formerly the expressed juice of the Oxalis acetosella was employed in the preparation of 

 this salt — the salts of sorrel of commerce, but the resources of modern science have long 

 since led to the substitution of more certain and cheaper methods of procuring it. 



Nor is the genus Oxalis the only one in which this acid occurs, for it is constantly 

 present in the common sorrel, Rumex acetosa, in the roots of the gentian family, and 

 also in some species of Saponaria; in combination with lime, it exists in the grateful 

 rhubarb stalks ; and in several kinds of lichen, such as Parmelia and Variolaria, the oxalate 

 of lime is so abundant, that it forms a hard skeleton or crust. Humble as are these 

 lichens, they are extremely interesting, from the important part they are made to 

 perform in the economy of nature. They are found chiefly on granitic or volcanic 

 rocks, the surface of which, by the combined influence of the atmosphere, and the oxalic 

 acid they contain, they assist in slowly disintegrating, preparing by their decay the 

 means of support for a higher order of vegetation, and thus affording a striking illustration 

 of the truth that, in the laboratory of nature, the mightiest results arc often produced 

 by the most insignificant means. 



We hope before long to introduce one or two other beautiful species of oxalis to 

 the notice of our readers, and we shall therefore reserve till then any remarks on the 

 structure of the order. 



PELARGONIUM QUERCIFOLIUM, 



Hybrid Variety. 

 Rollissoris Unique. 



Class— MoNADELrHiA Order— Heptandria. Natural Order— Geraniaceje. 



Nearly twenty years have passed away since this plant was raised by Messrs. Rollisson 

 of Tooting, and although, in that interval of time, many thousand seedling Pelargoniums 

 have been ' brought out,' but few equal, and still fewer surpass it, in the inimitable 

 richness of its purple-crimson colour, and the long period during which its large trusses 

 of flowers are produced. 



We have been obligingly informed by the eminent florists referred to, that this 

 variety is a hybrid between the old Pelargonium Daveyanum, and one of the varieties 

 of the still older P. quercifolium, or Oak-leaved Geranium, as it is commonly termed ; 

 so that, although its connection with that plant is somewhat remote, it has, nevertheless, 

 to borrow an expression sometimes employed in speaking of objects belonging to the 

 animal kingdom, a few drops of the original sap circulating in its vessels ; and we have 

 therefore, in the absence of a better scientific name, ventured to class it as one of the 

 varieties of that venerable species. 



