WOOD SORREL FAMILY 



OXALIDACEAE 



LADY'S SORREL. SOUR GRASS 



Oxalis corniculata L, 



The Lady's Sorrel is an herb, usually more or less hairy but 

 sometimes smooth, that has become a common weed everywhere. 

 Leaves and stems have an agreeable sour taste which accounts 



for the name Sour 

 Grass. 



There are usually 

 a few creeping stems, 

 by means of which 

 the plant is perennial. 

 The upright stems 

 may be only a few 

 inches high, and they 

 bear the petioled, tri- 

 foliate leaves whose 

 leaflets fold at night. 



The plant blooms 

 from early spring to 

 late autumn and the 

 small yellow flowers 

 open only while the 

 sunshines. The calyx 

 consists of 5 yellow 

 sepals, which remain 

 on the fruit. There are 

 5 yellow petals, lo stamens and i pistil 

 with 5 distinct styles. The mature fruit is 

 nearly cylindrical but tapers toward the 

 summit. Its 5 compartments have several seeds each. 



The Yellow Wood Sorrel, Oxalis stricta L., is a closely related 

 species. In it the pedicels are turned downward as the fruits 

 mature, but the pods themselves are erect. 



The Great Yellow Wood Sorrel, Oxalis grandis Small, is the 

 most striking yellow-flowered species. It grows 1-4 feet high in 

 rich moist woodlands and blooms from May to August. Stems 

 and pedicels are thickly covered with bristly hairs. The entire, 

 broadly heart-shaped leaves, notched at the tip, are hairy beneath 

 and generally have a brown margin. There are 3 to several 

 flowers with smooth yellow petals in each of the long-peduncled 

 inflorescences. 



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