OX A 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY 



OX A 



223 



brownish skin, composed of fleshy, very thick ovate-acumi- 

 nate loose scales, forming as it were so many bulbs, hence 

 lobed ; stem round, almost upright, weak, somewhat villose, 

 brownish-purple, from the thickness of a pigeon's quill to 

 only half the size, from six inches to a foot in height, branch- 

 ed ; leaves alternate, ternate, spreading very much, numerous, 

 subsessile. It flowers in Europe in October and November. 

 Native of the Cape. 



29. Oxalis Rubella. Corollas bell-shaped; styles mid- 

 dling ; filamenta toothless ; bulb ovate, acute, the size of a 

 hazel-nut, with aferruginous skin, loose; stem round, slender, 

 somewhat hirsute, fleshy, weak, so that it is seldom really 

 upright, scaly at the base, brownish-purple, about half a 

 foot high. In Europe it flowers from October to December. 

 Native of the Cape. 



30. Oxalis Rosacea. Corollas bell-shaped ; styles mid- 

 dling : filamenta gibbosely toothletted ; bulb roundish, or 

 ovate, with a brown skin, less than a hazel-nut ; stem round, 

 slender, very hirsute, leafless to the middle, with minute 

 wandering scales, sometimes, but very seldom, having an 

 axillary flowering branchlet at top, weak, prostrate, rising up 

 towards the top, from six inches to nearly a foot in height. 

 This species is easily distinguished from all the rest, by 

 having its leaves at the ends of the stem, and branches very 

 closely collected into a form like a double rose, spreading, 

 and very hoary. In Europe it flowers from September to 

 November. Native of the Cape. 



31. Oxalis Disticha. Corollas bell-shaped ; styles mid- 

 dling: petioles wingedly stipuled; bulb elongated, ovate, 

 half an inch long or more, covered with a brown skin, putting 

 forth a long thick fibre from the base; stem round, the thick- 

 ness of a pigeon's quill, smooth, pale green, or dirty purple, 

 half a foot long or more, almost upright at the base, then 

 reclining and ascending, branched at the base, having distant 

 scales at bottom, in other parts leafy, at all the scales and 

 leaves jointed; peduncles jointed at the base, axillary, soli- 

 tary, alternate, round, smooth, spreading, about the same 

 length with the leaves, with opposite bractes directly under 

 the calix. In Europe it flowers in December and January. 

 Native of the Cape. 



32. Oxalis Tenella. Subcaulescent : corollas bell-shaped; 

 filamenta toothless; leaflets obcordate; bulb ovate, acute, 

 the size of a pea, often several inclosed in one brown skin ; 

 stem filiform, weak, an inch or a little more in length, round, 

 appearing villose when magnified ; peduncles axillary, soli- 

 tary, jointed at the base, round, somewhat villose, upright, 

 longer than the leaves, with bractes alternate at top. This, 

 and the following species, connect the caulescent with the 

 stemless Oxalides. In Europe it flowers in November and 

 December. Native of the Cape. 



33. Oxalis Reptatrix. Subcaulescent : corollas bell-shaped ; 

 filamenta toothletted ; leaflets roundish ; bulb roundish, 

 about the size of a hazel-nut, with a black hard skin, and 

 commonly a double nucleus, putting forth a slender white 

 jointed root, with a scale at each joint, having fibres on every 

 side, here and there bulbiferous, creeping horizontally, from 

 one to six inches in length ; stem round, the thickness of a 

 pigeon's quill, somewhat villose, upright, below the leaves 

 scaly, and about an inch long, and then two or three inches 

 more in length. In Europe it flowers in November and 

 December. Native of the Cape. This plant, Jacquin informs, 

 as it runs along, puts forth bulbs in such abundance, as in 

 a short time to fill the pots with plants ; but that in four 

 years, during which he had cultivated it, he had only a 

 single flower ; which is common in plants that are suffered 

 to run at the roots. 



VOL. II. 84. 



B. Stipitated. 

 * With simple Leaves. 



34. Oxalis Lepida. Styles very long ; bulb roundish, 

 twice as large as a pea, half loose, with a soft compressile 

 skin, lanuginose as it were, and of a brownish straw colour ; 

 stipe subterraneous, from a line to an inch in length, having 

 a few scales at top, terminating in an umbel of a few leaves 

 and flowers. This, and the next two species, are so alike in 

 habit, leaves, bulbs, and flowers, that they can scarcely be 

 distinguished. Native of the Cape. 



35. Oxalis Monophylla; Simple-leaved Wood Sorrel. Styles 

 of middling length ; bulb roundish ; stipe short. Native of 

 the Cape. 



36. Oxalis Rostrata ; Beaked Wood Sorrel. Styles very 

 short. Native of the Cape. 



** With binate Leaves. 



37. Oxalis Crispa ; Curled Wood Sorrel. Leaflets obovate, 

 curled ; bulb roundish, the size of a hazel-nut, with a brown 

 skin ; stipe partly subterraneous, about an inch long, and 

 then standing out, shorter, scaly, leafless, brownish, the 

 thickness of a pigeon's quill, upright, terminated by a thin 

 umbel of leaves and flowers. -Native of the Cape. 



38. Oxalis Asmina; Asses'-eared Wood Sorrel. Leaflets 

 lanceolate ; styles middling ; bulb ovate, the size of a hazel- 

 nut, with a brown skin ; stipe partly subterraneous, about an 

 inch long, scaly, then standing out, shorter, scaly, leafless, 

 almost upright, terminated by an umbel of leaves and flowers ; 

 corolla four times as long as the calix ; claws erect, yellow. 

 The leaves are numerous, each pair on a winged obovate 

 footstalk ; the flowers are yellow, on stalks rather taller than 

 the foliage. Native of the Cape. 



39. Oxalis Leporina. Leaflets lanceolate; styles very 

 long; filamenta toothletted; bulb roundish, pale flesh colour, 

 with a brown skin the size of a hazel-nut ; stipe, the part 

 under ground about an inch, above shorter, scaly, leafless, 

 brownish, almost upright, terminated by a thin umbel of 

 leaves and flowers. It derives its trivial name from the 

 binate leaves resembling a hare's ear. Native of the Cape. 



40. Oxalis Lanceaefolia. Leaves binate and ternate; 

 styles very long ; filamenta toothless ; bulb ovate, smaller 

 than a hazel-nut, covered with a brown skin ; stipe subter- 

 raneous, one or two inches long, almost the thickness of a 

 pigeon's quill, having a few scales at top, and being bulb- 

 bearing at bottom, terminating in an umbel of leaves and a 

 few flowers. Native of the Cape. 



*** with ternate Leaves. 



41. Oxalis Fabsefolia; Bean-leaved Wood Sorrel. Leaves 

 obovate, flat ; petioles winged ; bulb roundish, with a brown 

 skin, the size of a hazel-nut, often loose ; stipe about an inch, 

 partly under ground, partly above, scaly, leafless, nearly as 

 thick as a reed at top, almost upright, terminated by a thick 

 umbel of leaves and flowers. Native of the Cape. 



42. Oxalis Laburnifolia ; Laburnum-leaved Wood Sorrel. 

 The middle leaflet sublanceolate, the side ones obliquely 

 oblong ; styles very long ; frlamenta toothletted ; bulb ovate, 

 the size of a hazel-nut, with a blackish brown skin ; stipe 

 subterraneous, round, white, almost as thick as a pigeon's 

 quill, about an inch in length, terminated by a thin umbel 

 of leaves and flowers; leaves few, spreading. Native of the 

 Cape. 



43. Oxalis Sanguinea; Bloody-leaved Wood Sorrel. The 

 middle leaflet sublanceolate, the side ones obliquely oblong; 

 styles middling ; bulb ovate, minute, with a blackish brown 

 skin, loose ; stipe subterraneous, an inch long, of a dirty 

 whitish colour, nearly as thick as a pigeon's quill, terminated 

 by a thin umbel of leaves and flowers. Native of the Cape. 



3 L 



