GRASSES, SEDGES AND SOME SEPTEMBER FLOWERS 



555 



three separate plants have sprung, at considerable inter- 

 vals, from the same pale-colored, slender runner; in 

 Figure 9 the terminal one is given enlarged. This is the 

 Lady's Sorrel or Yellow Wood Sorrel, the delicate little 

 flowers being deep yellow. It is our most abundant 

 species, and this one was collected in a wood-lane in 

 southern Maryland. They do not grow in the shaded 

 woods but flourish best in the broiling sun by the road- 

 sides. Many are also found in fields and gardens. 

 Children are fond of chewing the leaves and seedpods 

 on account of their delicate sour taste, and many call the 

 plant the 

 "Lady's Sour- 

 grass" a name 

 bestowed, too, 

 on a few other 

 species. It will 

 be obse r ved 

 that the leaves 

 are very long- 

 stemmed, each 

 stem bearing 

 three heart- 

 shaped leaflets. 

 The plant 

 shown in Fig- 

 ures 8 and 9 is 

 fruiting, and 

 the leaves are 

 closed up for 

 the day. The 

 flowers run 

 from two to 

 six on the 

 distal ends of 

 delicate stems, and any single flower rarely exceeds half 

 an inch across. As pointed out by Gray, "several species 

 produce small, peculiar flowers, precociously fertilized in 

 the bud and particularly fruitful." Each seed-pod is 

 generally hairy, and large-sized ones may be found that 

 possess a length of half an inch. In O. stricta they make 

 an acute angle with their stemlets in each case, and this 

 species may be readily identified by a peculiar character 

 taken in connection with other characters : Each of 

 the yellow petals may have, near the base, a reddish spot. 

 This abundant species occurs in southern Maine, extend- 

 ing westward to Dakota, and thence far southward. 

 In the common Wood Sorrel (O. acetosella), which 



ONE OF THE DAINTIEST AND BEST KNOWN LITTLE PLANTS OF THE WOOD SORREL FAMILY 



Fig. 8 The Oxalidaceae with us contains but one genus of plants; it has been named Oxalis as the leaves 

 are sour to the taste. The species here shown is the Lady's Sorrel (O. corniculata). 



flourishes in dark, shaded woods, we have a creeping plant 

 with white flowers, the petals of which are veined with 

 rich purple, or, in some instances, a distinct rose. O. 

 violacea has violet flowers, and grows among the rocks in 

 wooded places, while the cosmopolitan species, O. repens, 

 has small flowers. This species is a very low, creeping one, 

 and generally regarded as a "weed" by florists, who find 

 it in abundance about their greenhouses. There are other 

 species in eastern districts, as O. priceae, O. filipes, 

 and so on. Neltje Blanchan truly remarks that "every 

 child knows how the wood-sorrel 'goes to sleep' by droop- 

 ing its three 

 leaflets until 

 they touch 

 back to back at 

 e v e n i ng, re- 

 gaining the 

 h o r i zontal at 

 sunrise a per- 

 formance most 

 scientists now 

 agree protects 

 the peculiarly 

 sensitive leaf 

 from cold by 

 radiation. 

 During the 

 day as well, 

 seedling, scape, 

 and leaves go 

 through some 

 interest ing 

 m o v e m e nts, 

 closely follow- 

 ed by Darwin 

 in his 'Power of Movement in Plants,' which should be 

 read by all interested." On the other hand, the supersti- 

 tionists in the Old World have woven about the sorrel 

 many a fable ; and, coming down from the Irish of yore, 

 it is found to be the true shamrock of Saint Patrick and 

 the "alleluia" of the Saxons. 



The whole question of. the method of fertilization in 

 these sorrels is of extreme interest and importance ; while 

 additional researches are, in the future, sure to be con- 

 ducted upon the peculiar "activities" of these curious 

 plants, which not only "go to sleep" a state even extend- 

 ed to the seedlings and rudimentary leaves but which, 

 during the daytime are in a state of perpetual movement. 



OUR BIG COLONIAL EAGLE TERROR OF THE WILD MONKEYS OF THE PHILIPPINES 



A very interesting history attaches to this great 

 Monkey-eating Eagle of the Philippine Islands, being 

 one of the largest, if not the largest bird of prey known 

 up to the present time. It was first described by Mr. 

 Ogilvie-Grant at the meeting held in London on the 

 sixteenth of December, 1896, of the British Ornithological 

 Club. Taking its habits and anatomy into considera- 



tion, as far as these were known, Mr. Grant created a 

 new genus to contain this magnificent bird, and it is now 

 known to science as Pithecophaga jeffreyi. Those who 

 have thus far had the opportunity to examine the ma- 

 terial in hand, or any part of it, seem to be impressed 

 with the fact that its nearest living ally is the Harpy 

 Eagle of South America (Harpy-haliaetus). Mr. John 



