RUTACEyE. (KUE FAMILY.) 109 



Bouthward. June -Sept. — Plant 2° -4° lii<rh : the flowers loosely panicled. 

 at the ends of the branches, hanging gracefully on their slender nodding stalks,, 

 the oi)en mouth of the cornueopiit-shaped sepal upward. — A variety is not rare 

 with s/wl/ess Jhnvtrs, which diHers from the I. Nolitangere of Europe in the 

 more inlkxud spur and sniallcr jictals. Sjjur rarely wanting. 



5. OX A LIS, L. Wood-Sorrel. 



Sepals .5, persistent. Petals 5, tliiir bases sometimes united, withering after 

 expansion. Stamens 10, usually nionadel|)hous at the base, alternately shorter. 

 Styles 5, distinct. Pod oblong, membranaceous, .'j-celled, more or less 5-lobcd, 

 •each cell opening on the back; the valves persistent, being fixed to the central 

 column or axis by the partitions. Seeds 2 or more in each cell, pendulous 

 from the axis, anatropous, their outer coat loose and separating. Embryo 

 large and straight in fleshy albumen : cotyledons flat. — Herbs, with sour 

 watery juice, alternate or radical leaves, mostly of 3 obcordate leaflets, which 

 close and droop at nightfall. Several species produce (like Impatiens) small 

 peculiar flowers, which are precociously fertilized in the bud and are particularly 

 fruitful; and the ordinary flowers are often dimorphous or even trimorphous in 

 the relative length of the stamens and styles. (Name from o^vi, sour.) 



* Steniless perennials: leaves and scopes a routstock or bulb: leojlcts broadlj obcor- 



date: flowers nearly 1' broad; cells of the pod few-seeded. 



1. O. Acetosdlla, L. (Common Wood-Sorrel.) Rootstock creeping 

 and scaly-toothed; ,s-w/)6 \-flowered (2'- 5' high); petals white with reddish 

 veins, often notched. — Deep cold woods, Massachusetts to Penn., L. Superior 

 and northward : also southward in the AUeghanies. June. (Eu.) 



2. O. viol^cea, L. (Violet W.) Nearly smooth; bulb scali/ ; scapes 

 umheHutelj] sevend-flowered (5' -9' high), longer than the leaves; petals violet. — 

 Koeky places ; most common southward. May, June. 



* * Stems leaf 11, branching : peduncles axillari/ : flowers small : cells several-seeded. 



3. O. Stricta, L. (Yellow W.) Annual or perennial by running sub- 

 terranean shoots ; stems at first erect ; stipules absent ; peduncles 2 - 6-flowered, 

 longer than the leaves ; petals yellow ; pods elongated, erect in fruit. — Copses 

 and cultivated grounds: common. May -Sept. — Varies gieatly in apjwarance 

 and in the size of its flowers. 



4. O. cormcul.Vta, L., if in this district, and truly distinci from 0. stricta, 

 should be known by the stipules at the base of the i)etiules. (Ku.) 



OuDKit 25. RUTACE.i:. (Rri: Family.) 



Plants with simple or compound leaves, dotted with pellucid fflands, abound- 

 ing tcith a pungent or bitter-aromatic acrid volatile oil, producing hupofignous 

 almost always regular ^ - b-mero us flowers, the stamens as many or twice as 

 many as the sepals (^rarely more numerous) ; the 2-5 pistils separate or com- 

 bined into a compouml ovary of as many cells, raised on a prolongation of 

 the receptacle (jgynophore) or glandular disk. — Embryo large, curved or 



