•216 PLANTS OP NEW ZEALAND 



Oxalis corniculata (Tlie Homed Oxalis). 



A perenniLil herl), sometimes creeping. Leiives shining or downy. Stipules, 

 very small. Flowers, from 1-G on a stem, :iti"--J i"- across. Petals yellow. 

 Fruit an oblong capsule. Fl. Oct. -Mar. 



Oxalis magellanica iMdijellaiis Oxalis). 



This little plant much resembles the English Wood Sorrel (0. acetosella). 

 It is smaller than corniculata, with slightly fleshy leaves, and solitary white 

 flowers. Capsules, round. Stipules, large. Both islands : in shady places. FI. 

 Aug. -Oct. 



Our two dwarf species of O.ralis are interesting from 

 several points of view. On a bright day 0. corniculata enlivens 

 the turf with a blaze of little ^-ellow flowers. It grows chiefly 

 in dry sunny localities, and it is one of the last of our indige- 

 noirs plants to disappear before the advance of civilization. 

 There is no town in New Zealand in which there is such a 

 deartli of uncultivated native plants as in Clrristchurch, yet 

 this little Oxalis may be found on many of the lawns, even in 

 the centre of the town. Hagley Park lies almost within the 

 borders of the City, and here a few wild flowers eke out a 

 poverty-stricken existence for the delight of the town-dweller, 

 if he care to notice them. Tlie list is a short one, and 

 (excludmg monocotyledons) inchrdes Oxalis corniculata, 

 Cannichaelia flagelliformis, Ligiisticirm ( Aciphylla ) Cvlensoi, 

 liaoulia Monroi, Geranium uucrupJii/Uum, Muhlenheckia 

 axillaris and Cotula speciosa. None of them, except tire little 

 Oxalis, have brightly coloured flowers ; none of them are 

 showy or conspicuous, hvA, every one of them is well worthy 

 f)f study, and in a German town of size equal to this, would 

 already have been monographed and examined micro- 

 scopically throughout, in all its stages. 



0. magellanica is found chiefly in bogs and damp woods. 

 It is a widelv distributed form, with a sub-antarctic rantje, 

 being found m Victoria, Tasmania, South Chili, and Kuegia. 

 ^Ir. G. M. Thomson found that the fl(nver produced no seed 



