WOOD-SORREL FAMILY. Oxalidaceae. 



WOOD-SORREL FAMILY. Oxalidaceae. 



Not a large family, mostly tropical. Ours are low herbs, 

 with sour juice, often with rootstocks or scaly bulbs; 

 leaves with three or several leaflets; flowers perfect; sepals 

 five, often unequal; petals five, stamens ten to fifteen; 

 ovary superior, five-celled, the five styles usually separate; 

 fruit a capsule, containing several or many seeds. By 

 some botanists this is merged in the Geranium Family. 



There are many kinds of Oxalis. The Greek name 

 means "sour," in allusion to the sour taste of these plants, 

 which contain oxalic acid. The leaves are alternate, at 

 nightfall the leaflets droop and fold together; the stamens 

 are ten, five long and five short, all with anthers, with 

 filaments broadened and united at base. 



A pretty little plant, a few inches tall, 



Wood - more or less downy all over, with very 



Oxalis slender, reddish, branching stems and 



corniculdta light green leaves, about an inch across 



Yellow and thin in texture. The flowers are 



Spring, summer, Qver half an inch across> with dear ye ll ow 



Southwest petals, often tinged with pale red on the 



outside, yellow anthers and a green pistil. 

 The capsules are long and downy. 



One of the most attractive of our wood- 

 Redwood Sorrel . 



Oxalis Or eg^na land plants. The succulent, hairy, red- 

 White, pink dish flower-stalks, about six inches tall, 



Spring w ith two small bracts near the top, spring 



Cal., Oreg., Wash. from & c i ump o f root-leaves. The larger 

 leaves are three inches across, with long leaf-stalks, pale 

 and hairy on the under side, rich green on the upper, each 

 leaflet marked with an irregular blotch of pale green. The 

 younger leaves are lighter green than the older ones and in 

 the bud are neatly folded together, the middle leaflet inside 

 the other two. The leaflets fold back, when it is either too 

 hot or too cold to suit the plant. The delicate flowers are 

 about an inch and a half across, white, pale pink, or rose- 

 color, often veined with deeper color and with a spot of 

 yellow at the base of each petal, and well set off by the 

 foliage, which makes patches of rich and variegated green 

 in dense forest shade. 



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