DECANDRIA— PENTAGYNIA. Oxalis. 323 



connected laterally by their claws; spiral in the bud. 

 Filam. capillary, sometimes combined, erect, the 5 outer- 

 most shortest, and often protuberant at the back or sum- 

 mit. Aiith. roundish, furrowed, incumbent. Germ, su- 

 perior, oblong or roundish, with 5 angles. Styles 5, thread - 

 shaped, either longer or shorter than the longest stamens. 

 Stigmas obtuse, downy. Caps, with 5 angles, and 5 cells, 

 membranous, bursting lengthwise at the angles. Seeds 

 roundish, polished, each seated on an elastic tunicy in 

 some species solitary, in others" several in each cell. 

 Herbaceous, acid. Root scaly, or bulbous. Leaves com- 

 pound, mostly ternate. Fl. purplish, white, or yellow, 

 inodorous. 



1. O. Acetosella. Common Wood-sorrel. 



Stalks radical, single-flowered. Leaves ternate, inversely 

 heart-shaped, hairy. Root of many scaly joints. Stamens 

 all simple. 



O. Acetosella. Linn. Sp. PL 620. JVilld. v. 2. 780. FL Br. 491. 



EngL BoL v. 11. L 762. CurL Lond.fasc. 2. t.2,\. Woodv. Med. 



BoLt. 20. Hook. ScoL 141. FL Dan. t. 980. Jacq. OxaL 114. 



t.80.f.\. Ehrh. PL Of.] 54. 

 Oxvs n. 928. HaU. Hist. v. 1. 402. 



O. alba. Raii Syn. *28 1 . Ger. Em. 1 20 1 ./. Merr. Pin. 90. 

 Trifolium acetosum. Dad. Frument.2\4.f. Pcmpt.578.f. Matth. 



Falgr.v. I. 191. f. Camer.EpiL 584. f. 2. Dalech. HisL 1355./. 

 T. acetosum vulgare. Bauh. Pin, 330. 

 /3. T. acetosum vulgare, flore puvpureo. DHL in Raii Syn. *281. 



. In groves and shady places abundantly. 



Perennial. April, May. 



Root of several parcels of fleshy reddish scales, connected by a 

 thread. Stem none. Leaflets of a delicate bright green, often 

 purplish at the back, drooping at night, on long, hairy, radical, 

 ])ur[>\ish foot-stalks. Flower-stalks taller than the footstalks, like 

 them hairy, purplish, more or less curved or wavy. Bracteas 2, 

 opposite, considerably below the top of each stalk. Fl. solitary, 

 drooping, bell-shaped, either white or purplish, always streaked 

 with fine branching purple veins ; the petals adhering together 

 by a little glandular swelling, at each side of their short yellow 

 claws. Stain, all capillary, as are the styles likewise. When ripe, 

 the blackish shining seeds are projected to a distance, on the 

 fslightest touch or motion, by their elastic tunics, which remain, 

 contracted and wrinkled, in the capsule. 



This herb is powerfully and most agreeably acid, making a refresh- 

 ing and wholesome conserve with fine sugar ; its flavour resem- 

 bling green tea. Few of our wild flowers are more elegant. In 



Y 2 



