DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 131 



downy, usually with a dark zone near the middle. Flowers in a 

 long peduncled umbel, showy, red or white, often double. Number- 

 less varieties in cultivation. 



3. P. graveolens, Ait. ROSE GERANIUM. Stem erect or ascend- 

 ing, densely downy, 1-3 ft. high. Leaves alternate, palmately lobed 

 or divided, the lobes often finely dissected, rolled under at the edges. 

 Flowers umbelled, small, light purple with darker veins ; whole 

 plant very fragrant. Common in cultivation. 



4. P. odoratissimum, Ait. NUTMEG GERANIUM. Branches 

 crooked and straggling from a very short, moderately stout main 

 stem. Leaves small, roundish and scalloped, covered with velvety 

 down, very fragrant. Flowers white, inconspicuous, on short pedi- 

 cels, the petals hardly longer than the calyx. 



48. OXALIDACE^. WOOD-SORREL FAMILY. 



Herbs or woody plants. Leaves compound. Flowers in 

 fives, perfect, regular, hypogynous. Stamens 10, somewhat 

 monadelphous at the base. Ovary with several ovules in 

 each cell. Fruit a capsule. 



OXALIS, L. 



Acid herbs. Leaves radical 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. WOOD-SORREL. Stemless, from a creeping, 

 scaly rootstock. Leaves all radical, long-petioled, of 3 inversely 

 heart-shaped leaflets ; scape slender, 2-5 in. high, 1-flowered. 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, 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, umbel- 

 lately 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.* 



[The forms with small yellow flowers, hitherto referred to O. cor- 

 niculata, belong to several nearly related species too difficult for the 

 beginner.] 



