OXALIDACEAE 265 



1. Herbs; fruit a capsule. 



2. Leaves 3-foliolate; valves of the capsule cohering with the axis, 



1. OxcUis 

 2. Leaves pinnate; valves of the capsule separating from the axis to the 



base _ 2. Biophytum 



1. Trees or shrubs with pinnate leaves and fleshy fruits 3. Averrhoa 



1. OXALIS Linnaeus 



Small herbs acid in taste, usually postrate and creeping, the leaves 

 alternate, 3-foliolate; stipules small. Flowers on axillary 1 to few-flowered 

 peduncles, regular, yellow. Sepals 5, imbricate. Petals 5, hypogynous. 

 Stamens 10, free, or united at the base, all anther- tearing. Ovary 5-lobed, 

 6-celled; styles 5, distinct. Fruit a capsule dehiscing loculicidally. (From 

 the Greek "sour.") 



Species about 200, chiefly in tropical and temperate South America and 

 South Africa, 2 in the Philippines. 



Leaflets less than 1.5 cm long; flowers yellow 1. 0. repena 



Leaflets exceeding 1.5 cm in length; flowers purplish; cultivated only. 



2. O martiana 

 1. O. repens Thunb. Taingandaga, Susocoyili (Tag.). 



A small, variable, prostrate herb, somewhat pubescent with long, scat- 

 tered hairs, the stems creeping, up to 50 cm in length, usually rooting at 

 the nodes. Leaves 3-foliolate, their petioles 5 cm long or less; leaflets 

 obcordate, 0.5 to 1.5 cm long, sessile. Flowers yellow, one to several on 

 each peduncle, subumbellately disposed, nearly 1 cm long, the petals ob- 

 cordate. Capsules tomentose, subcylindric, 1 to 1.8 cm long. 



In waste places, along old walls, etc., fl. all the year; widely distributed 

 in the Philippines, ascending to an altitude of 2,300 m. Widely distributed 

 in temperate and tropical parts of the world, dften confused with O. comi- 

 culata L. 



*2. O. MABTUNA ZUCC. 



Erect, from tuberous rootstocks or small bulba, the leaves all radical, 

 their petioles up to 25 cm long, ciliate-pubescent. Leaflets broadly obcor- 

 date or suborbicular-obcordate, about 3 cm long, often wider than long, mi- 

 nutely glandular on the lower surface, slightly pilose-ciliate. Flowers 

 umbellate, few to many,- the peduncles about as long as the leaves, the 

 corolla lilac or pink-purple, about 12 mm long. 



Not uncommon in cultivation, Singalon, fl. most of the year; introduced 

 from tropical America. 



2. BIOPHYTUM DeCandolle 



Annual, erect, small, unbranched herbs. Leaves abruptly pinnate, 

 crowded at the top of the stem, the leaflets opposite; petiole swollen at 

 the base. Peduncles terminal. Flowers unbellate, small, yellow. Sepals 

 5, lanceolate, acuminate. Petals 5. Stamens 10, filaments free, the outer 

 5 smaller. Capsule ovoid to oblong, loculicidally dehiscent. (Greek "life" 

 and "plant" from the sensitive leaves). 



Species about 20 in tropical Asia, Africa, and America, 2 in the Phil- 

 ippines. 



