114 



GERANIACEiE. 



is applicable are so numerous and the plant everywhere so common, one 

 is led to wonder that it is not more generally employed. 



OXALIS.— WOOD-SOUHEL. 



Character of the Genux. — Sepals 5, distinct or united at the base, im- 

 bricate, persistent. Petals 5, sometimes united at the base, witheriuff. 

 Stamens 10, more or less united at the base, those opposite the petals 

 longer than the others ; anthers versatile. Ovary of 5 united carpels, not 



beaked ; styles distinct. Fruit a 

 5-celled, 5-angled cai)sule opening 

 by as many valves, each cell 2- 

 seeded. 



Herbs, either annual or with a 

 tuberous or creeping perennial rhi- 

 zome. Leaves alternate or radical, 

 palmately trifoliate. 



Oxalis Acetosella Linnu.— 

 Wood-Sorrel. 



Descriplion, — Calj'x : sepals 

 small, ovate, obtuse. Corolla : pet- 

 als obovate, unguiculate, one-half 

 inch long, white Avith reddish 

 veins. Cajisule ovoid. Pereimial. 

 Eoot-stock creeping slender, scaly 

 toothed. Leaves all .adical on long 

 petioles ; leaflets broadly obcor- 

 date. Scapes 2 to 5 inches long, 

 l-Howered, appearing in June. 

 ITabital. — In cold Avoods from the Alleghanies northward ; also in 

 Northern Europe and Asia. 



Oxalis strlcta Linne. — YeUow Wood-Sorrel, Slweji-Sorrel. 

 l>rs<Tii)ti<n). — Flowers similar in structure to the preceding, but smaller 

 and borne upon 2- to G-tlowered, axillary peduncles, yellow. Capsules elon- 

 gated. Annual, or by means of subterranean shoots, perennial. Stem erect, 

 leafy. Flowers appear throughout the summer. 



Habilat. — Connnon in waste and cidtivated grounds. 

 Part Used. — The leaves — not official. 



Constilncnts. — All plants of this genus have, to a greater or less extent, 

 an agreeable acidulous taste due to the presence of binoxalate of potash, 

 their only important constituent. This salt was formerly extracted from 

 certain species of oxalis and was sold imder the name of salt of sorrel, but 

 it is now prepared from oxalic acid and potash. 



Preparations. — There are none, save the commercial binoxalate of pot- 

 ash, and, as above stated, this is no longer prepared from the plant. 



Fig. 110.- -Oxalis AcetoBClla. 



