270 20. OXALIDACEiE. 



these streams, after uniting with the Rothay and Brathay, 

 are ultimately discharged, (Phytol. ii. 427). 



243. OXALIS ACETOSELLA, Liun. 



Area, general. 



South limit in Cornwall, Isle of Wight, Kent. 



North limit in Orkney, Hebrides, Sutherland. 



Estimate of provinces 18. Estimate of counties 81. 



Latitude 50 — 60. British type of distribution. 



A. A. regions. Inferagrarian — Superarctic zones. 



Descends to the coast level, in the Peninsula. 



Ascends to 1300 yards, in the East Highlands. 



Range of mean annual temperature 51 — 34. 



Native. Sylvestral. This pretty plant, whose blossoms 

 ornament our southern coppices and hedgerows in early 

 spring, finds a climate which permits its growth in every part 

 of Britain, unless the Shetland Isles form a real exception. 

 In the hedgerows of Devon, we see it flowering in April ; 

 under rocks near the tops of the Grampians, its blossoms 

 are produced in June or July. The drier summers of the 

 south-east of England (Surrey) there banish it from the 

 hedgerows; but it still grows under the shade of trees in 

 damp ground or on elevated spots. It is remarkable 

 (though not a solitary example of the fact) that this plant 

 which is so hardy in its climate as to endure the ungenial 

 temperature of the arctic zones, should also be so very 

 susceptible of frost. In my garden, in Surrey, where it has 

 some little shelter from neighbouring trees and a hedge, 

 the leaves and flowers are often seared and destroyed by 

 the frosty nights of April. The same thing occurs with the 

 spring-growing leaves of Ferns, both the wild species of 

 Surrey and those brought from the northern mountains. 



