OXALIDACEAE 



WOOD SORREL FAMILY 



VIOLET WOOD SORREL 



Oxalis violacea L. 



The generic name of the Wood Sorrels comes from a 

 Greek word meaning sour, and is applied because these 

 plants contain a good deal of the sour oxalic acid. A 

 species with white flowers occurs 

 in the New England states and is 

 used there as the source of "salt 

 of lemons" by means of which 

 rust stains are removed from 

 linen. The family is of no eco- 

 nomic importance and most of 

 its members are natives of South 

 America and Africa. 



This herb is nearly smooth and 

 has a bulblike scaly base. It grows 

 in rocky places and open woods from 

 eastern Massachusetts to 

 Minnesota and southwest. 

 The blooming season is 

 May and June. 



Three to a dozen um- 

 bellately arranged flowers 

 top the scape. Often they 

 are dimorphic or even tri- 

 morphic. There are 5 sepals 

 and 5 violet petals. The 10 

 stamens are somewhat 

 united at the base and are 

 unequal, the shorter alternating with the longer. There is i 

 pistil with 5 distinct styles, and the ovary matures into a dry 

 pod containing several seeds. 



The Creeping Yellow Wood Sorrel, Oxalis repens Thunb., 

 is a prostrate, freely branching herb with erect clusters of leaves 

 and yellow flowers, 1-6 inches high. It prefers rich soil and fre- 

 quents the grounds of greenhouses. The flower stalks are covered 

 with very stiff reflexed hairs, and the 5-sided pods, one-half inch 

 long or longer, contain many seeds. There has been some con- 

 fusion among Oxalis records, so that this species is sometimes in- 

 cluded as part of 0. corniculata, p. 176. 



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