142 KEY AND FLORA 



49. OXALIDACE-^. Wood Sorrel Family 



Herbs or woody plants. Leaves compound. Flowers in fives, 

 bisexual, actinomorphic, hypogynous. Stamens 10, somewhat 

 monadelphous at the base. Ovary with several ovules in each 

 cell. Fruit a capsule. 



OXALIS L. 



Acid herbs. Leaves basal or alternate, with or without 

 stipules, usually of 3 leaflets, which droop at night. Sepals 5. 

 Petals 5. Stamens 10. Ovary 5-lobed, 5-celled; styles 5. 



1. 0. Acetosella L. AVood Sorrel. Apparently stemless, from a 

 creeping, scaly rootstock. Leaves all basal, long-petioled, of 3 in- 

 versely heart-shaped leaflets ; scape slender, 2-5 in. high, 1-fiowered. 

 Flowers nearly 1 in. in diameter, white, veined with red or purple. 

 Cold woods N. 



2. 0. violacea L. Violet Wood Sorrel. Perennial from a 

 bulbous root, apparently stemless. Leaves long-petioled ; leaflets 

 inversely heart-shaped, sometimes slightly downy, often with a dark 

 zone near the middle. Scapes usually longer than the petioles, um- 

 bellately 4-10-flowered; pedicels slender. Flowers violet-purple, nod- 

 ding. Petals obtuse, 2-3 times as long as the sepals; scapes and 

 petioles 4-5 in. long. Common in rich woods,* 



3. 0. corniculata L. Common Yellow Wood Sorrel. Probably 

 flowering the first year but perennial, propagated by slender whitish 

 rootstocks. Erect or decumbent, often sparsely hairy, usually 1 ft. 

 or less in height. Stem leafy, the leaves often appearing whorled. 

 Leaflets thin, green or purplish, often ciliate. Peduncles few-flowered, 

 the ascending pedicels, clad with spreading hairs, forming unsym- 

 metrical umbels or cymes at their summits. Flowers yellow, about 

 I in. in diameter. Pods hairy, columnar, grooved, often ^ in. or more 

 in length. A common weed in light soil. 



50. TROP-SiOLACE^. Indian Cress Family 



Smooth and tender herbaceous plants, with biting juice, often 

 climbing by the petioles of their simple leaves. Leaves alter- 

 nate, without stipules. Peduncles axillary, 1-flowered. Sepals 

 3-5, the upper one with a long, distinct spur. Petals 1-5, 

 hypogynous, not always all alike. Stamens 6-10, perigynous, 



