OX A 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



OXA 



221 



Indies, being more tender, require to be placed in a stove, 

 kept to a moderate degree of warmth in winter ; they are 

 propagated by seeds sown in pots, plunged into a moderate 

 hot-bed. When the plants come up, set them singly in pots 

 filled with light sandy earth, and plunged into a fresh hot- 

 bed, shading them from the sun until they have taken new 

 root ; after which, they must be treated in the same manner 



as other tender plants from the same countries. The 



species are, 



I. Division. With many-flowered Peduncles. 

 * Caulescent. 



1 . Oxalis Pentantha. Stem upright ; leaflets obovate ; 

 styles very short ; root branched ; corolla three times as long 

 as the calix, bell-shaped, spreading very much at top, round- 

 ed, yellow. Native of the Caraccas in South America. 



2. Oxalis Rhombifolia. Stem upright ; leaflets rhombed ; 

 styles very long ; root branched. Native of the Caraccas. 



3. Oxalis Plumieri. Stem upright; leaflets oblong ; pedun- 

 cles umbelled ; root branched ; leaves alternate, ternate ; 

 peduncles axillary, solitary, spreading, about the length of 

 the leaves. Native of Guiana and the Caribbees. 



4. Oxalis Barrelieri. Stem upright; leaflets oblong; pedun- 

 cles bifid, racemed ; styles equal ; root branched, annual ; 

 leaves alternate, ternate ; corolla twice as long as the calix, 

 spreading very much at top, rounded, smooth, flesh-coloured. 

 Native of the Caraccas and Guiana. Jacquin observes, 

 that when sown early in the spring, it grew luxuriantly in the 

 stoves, produced seed abundantly, which from the elasticity 

 of the capsule could not be collected but with great difficulty, 

 and always perished in the winter ; but that when it was sown 

 later in the season it sometimes outlived the winter, and 

 flowered in the following spring, yet was nevertheless in a 

 very languid and feeble state. 



5. Oxalis Rosea ; Rose-flowered Wood Sorrel. Stem up- 

 right ; leaflets obcordate ; peduncles divided, racemed; root 

 branched, annual; corolla twice as long as the calix, spread- 

 ing very much at top, rounded, smooth, flesh-coloured. It 

 flowers in the stove from May to October. Native of the 

 Caraccas and Guiana. 



6. Oxalis Conorrhiza ; Conic-rooted Wood Sorrel. Stem 

 upright; leaflets obcordate; peduncles subbiflorous ; root 

 perennial, turbinate, putting forth capillary fibrils from the 

 side, nearly an inch thick at top, ending in a sharp point 

 at bottom, fleshy, dusky ash-coloured ; corolla many times 

 longer than the calix, very wide, rounded, yellow. Native 

 of Paraguay, in the vast plains to the northward of ihe river 

 De La Plata. 



7. Oxalis Crenata; Notch-petalled Wood Sorrel. Stem 

 upright; leaflets obcordate ; peduncles umbelliferous; petals 

 crenate ; root annual, fusiform, putting forth many fibrils, 

 half an inch thick at top, pale green ; corolla three times as 

 long as the calix, bell-shaped, ten lines in diameter, yellow, 

 with purple streaks on the inside. It seems to be wholly 

 smooth. Native of Peru, near Lima; it is cultivated in 

 gardens, and used as Sorrel. 



8. Oxalis Dillenii. Stem upright; leaflets obcordate; 

 peduncles subumbelliferous ; petals emarginate ; root annual, 

 branched, fibrous ; corolla three times as long as the calix, 

 yellow. Native of Carolina. 



9. Oxalis Stricta ; Uprir/ht Wood Sorrel- Stem upright ; 

 leaflets obcordate ; peduncles umbelliferous ; petals quite 

 entire ; root perennial, creeping, round, putting out capillary 

 fibres at the knots, branched ; corolla twice or thrice as 

 long as the calix, subcampanulate, yellow ; claws upright ; 

 borders obovate, very obscurely emarginate, and very spread- 

 ing. Swartz observes, that it varies with a stiffer and weaker 



stem, upright or declining, so that it is little more than a 

 variety of the tenth species. Browne recommends it as a 

 pleasant cooler and diuretic, and says that it was formerly 

 administered in inflammatory cases, but has been little used 

 since the more agreeable acid fruit-trees have been so gene- 

 rally cultivated in the West Indies. Mr. Mijler remarks, 

 that wherever this plant has been suffered to ripen its seeds, 

 it has become a common weed. It flowers from June to 

 October. Native of N. America, Jamaica, and Piedmont. 



10. Oxalis Corniculata ; Yellow Procumbent Wood Sorrel. ' 

 Stem prostrate, rooting ; peduncles two-flowered ; styles 

 almost equal ; root branched, fibrous, brownish, annua! ; 

 leaves alternate, collected in a small number at the rooting 

 part ; corolla twice as long as the calix, subcampanulate, 

 yellow; claws erect. It has been found near Dawlish in 

 Devonshire, and is a native of Spain, Italy, Sicily, Greece, 

 Austria, Switzerland, Japan, China, and Cochin-china. It 

 flowers from May until October. 



11. Oxalis Repens ; Creeping Wood Sorrel. Stem pros- 

 trate, rooting; peduncles subbiflorous; styles nearly mid- 

 dling; root fibrous, slender, branched; leaves alternate, 

 ternate; petiole jointed, and widening at the base, half 

 round, villose, green, almost upright, half an inch or more; 

 corolla three times as long as the calix, bell-shaped ; claws . 

 upright, pale; borders obovate, rounded, spreading very 

 much, yellow. Native of the Cape of Good Hope, Mada- 

 gascar, and Ceylon. Both these last are acid, and might 

 supply the place of Oxalis Acetosella, if wanted for medi- 

 cal use. 



** Sfipitated. 



12. Oxalis Megalorrhiza ; Great-rooted Wood Sorrel, 

 Leaves ternate, many-stumped ; root perennial, round, an 

 inch in diameter, about eight inches long, having several 

 heads, divided below into branching legs full of clefts, 

 covered with a double bark, the outer very thin, brownish 

 ash-coloured ; the inner two lines in thickness, red, watery, 

 acrid ; the substance of it is white, watery, acrid, having 

 red fibres in it running from the centre to the circumference; 

 corolla three times as long as the calix, bell-shaped, yellow, 

 marked below with three red lines on each petal. This species 

 is singular for the great size of the root, whence its trivial 

 name. The heads of it resemble so many fruticose stems. 

 Native of the mountains of Peru. 



13. Oxalis Sericea; Silky Wood Sorrel. Leaves ternate- 

 tomentose; styles of middling length; bulb deep in the 

 ground ; stipe standing out, villose, having one or two scales 

 about an inch in length, terminating in an umbel of leaves 

 and scapes; peduncles from two to five, one-flowered, the 

 middle ones shorter, drooping, each supported at the origin 

 with two ovate rough-haired little bractes ; corolla twice as 

 large as the calix, yellow. Native of the Cape. 



14. Oxalis Violacea; Violet-coloured Wood Sorrel. Leaves 

 ternate, obsoletely villose, numerous, fringed, on stalks 

 about a span high ; styles very short, interior ; filamenta 

 equal ; flowers when closed drooping, when expanded up- 

 right. Bulb roundish, ovate, covered with a "black coat, 

 the size of a hazel nut, or less, very prolific, consisting of 

 white fleshy scales, and having one or two red lines running 

 through them ; corolla three times as long as the calix, bell- 

 shaped ; claws yellowish ; borders obovate, rounded, violet, 

 purple, striated, spreading very much. The bulb sometimes 

 produces fleshy roots, the thickness of a finger. It flowers 

 in April and May : Jacquin says, throughout the summer. 

 Native of Virginia. 



15. Oxalis Caprina ; Goafs-foot Wood Sorrel. Leaves 

 ternate, smooth, half-lobed ; styles very short ; interior fila- 



