76 



THE ART ALBUM OF NEW ZEALAND FLORA. 



far tlio greater number have a stem reduced to a rhizome, sometimes suhterranean, some- 

 times api)earing aboAe g-round, and often taking the shape of a Imll) or forming a tuher. 

 In these the leaves are all 2)i"oduced in a tuft. In some of the l)ulbous species, as O. 

 cernua, bulbs are also produced in the axils of the leaves. The leaves of most of the 

 species consist of thi*ee entire leaves, which are usually inversely heart-shaped (such are 

 the New Zealand species), and occasionally slightly sensitive, as in O. stricta. The leaves 

 contain an acid juice. Sometimes the leaflets are reduced to two, or even one, Avhen the 

 leaf appears to be simple ; and, finally, a few have even this solitary portion deficient, 

 Avhieh occurs in such specimens as O.frulicosa and O. leptopodes, which have flat, dilated, 

 leaf-like petioles. One section of the genus {Biophytum) has pinnate leaves, with many 

 pairs of pinnop, but no terminal leaflet. In one of these from India, O. sensitivce, these 

 compound leaA'es are nearly as sensitive as in the " Sensitive plant," for they contract on 

 the slightest touch. Three sjiecimens occur in Britain. One of these, the common wood 

 sorrel, O. acetoseJIa, has a scaly rhizome, with a tuft of leaves at the top, and solitary 

 white flowers more or less veined with purjjle. This plant has a pleasant acid taste from 

 containing binoxolate of po+ass ; and hence it was once used in medical practice as a 

 refrigerant in fever, and as an anti-scorbutic in scurvy. It still remains in the British 

 Pharmacopeia, though fallen into disuse. The other British specimens are O. corniculata 

 and O. sti'icta. O. acetosella is said to be the Shamrock of Ireland, though some prefer 

 Trifolium, and other plants have been suggested. The New Zealand species ai*e : — (1.) 

 O. corniculata: stems, elongate, branching; flowers, yellow. (2.) O. Magellanica : 

 Stems, short or none ; flowers, white. The foliage of both affords a grateful acid. 



1. OXALIS CORNICULATA {Linn.) The Native Oxalis. 



Specific Chabactke. — Au ereit or clecuuibent, branched, 

 slender, glabrous or pubescent herb, usually with a perennial 

 root ; branches. 1-10 in. long, erect, ascending, or more usually 

 prostrate, sometimes matted together. Ijcaves, S-foliolate ; 

 leaflets deeply obcordate, ^-1 in. long, glaucous below ; stipules, 



small or none ; petioles slender, Tcry variable. Peduncles, 

 axillary, 1-6-flowered, variable in length. Flowers most 

 variable in size. Petals, yellow, notched. Capsules, oblong 

 or linear. — HandhooJc of the yew Zealand Tlora, p. 38. 



Description, etc.— Fig. 4, Plate No. 16.— The " NATIVE OXALIS."— This little 

 herb is abundant throughout both Islands, especially on the eastern coasts, in dry sunny 

 localities. There are five known varieties of this plant, all of which differ in habit, some 

 being erect, some rigid, and some creejiing. The Oxalis commences to bloom late in 

 September or early in Octobei", and continues, almost uninterruptedly, to display its 

 brilliant little vellow flowers until late in Autumn. Durins' the extreme heat of Summer 

 it appears to languish somewhat, when the blooms are not so plentiful ; but it revives 

 with the cooler weather, and continues to bloom vigorously until the sunny days become 



