MONADELPHIA DECANDRIA 393 



branching and diffuse, nerved, tumid at the joints, clothed with a spreading or 

 mrorse viilose pubescence; branches with stipules at base Leases about an 

 [„ch long, and wider than long, reniform-orbicular inthe.r outline, mulufid, h.r- 

 Ze; petioles viilose, the radical ones 2 to 6 inches long, with Imear-lanceola^e 

 acuminate hairy stipules at base, those of the stem-leaves half an ,nch to 3 inches 

 Ion- Flowers small, sub-fasciculate among the leaves at summit ; Peduncles 

 half an inch to an inch and half long, 2-flowered, usually a 1-flowered dichotomal 

 one in the lower forks; pedicels 1 fourth to half an inch long ; bracteatc at base. 

 Sepals lance-ovate, conspicuously mucronate, 3-nerved, hairy. Pe/a/s pale red, 

 or whitish with pale red stripes, cuneate-oblong, emarginate, narrowed and cili- 

 ate at base, scarcely longer than the calyx. Carpels hairy, each 1-seeded C2 seed- 

 ed, Ell.), the beak of cohering styles about 3 fourths of an inch long, hairy. Seeds 

 oval, reticulately rugose, reddish brown. 

 Hob. Fields; along Brandywine: not common. Fl. May-June. Fr. July. 



Obs. This is somewhat rare,-and has the appearance of a stranger, here. Three 

 or four additional species are enumerated in the U. States. 



324. OXALIS. L. Mutt. Gen. 420. 

 [Greek, Oxys % sharp, or sour ; in allusion to the acid quality of the plant.] 



Sepals 5, free, or united at base. Petals 5. Sta?ne?is monadelphous 

 at base, the alternate ones shorter. Styles 5, capitate, or pencilform at 

 apex. Capsule oblong, pentagonal, 5-celled, opening at the angles. 

 Seeds covered with an elastic ariUus. 



Herbaceous : caulescent, or stemless ; loaves alternate, mstly trifoliate; flowers 

 subcymusd on axillary peduncles, or subumbellate, or solitary, on scapes. Nat. 

 Old. 123. Li mil. OxalidejE. 



1. O. stkicta, Ij. Caulescent; stem mostly erect, branched, pilose ; 



stipules none ; peduncles longer than the petioles, 3 to 10-flowered ; 



petals entire. Beck, BoL p. 70. 



Mso y O. corniculata. Florid. Cestr. p. 76. Not ? of Willd. Pursh, 



JDC.Scc. 



Upright Oxalis. Vulgo— Wood Sorrel. 



Root perennial ? (annual, DC.) creeping, or soboliferous. *S!km2or3 inches to 

 near 2 feet high, hairy, mostly erect, branched, often spreading, or bushy, and 

 sometimes nearly prostrate. Leaves trifoliate ; leaflets 1 fourth of an inch to an 

 inch long, and wider than long, obcordate, slightly ciliate, smoothish, sessile ; 

 common petiole 1 to 3 or 4 inches long, pilose, articulated at base, often nearly 

 opposite, or 3 or 4 approximated on the stem, with long naked intervals. Pedun- 

 cles 2 to 4 or 5 inches long, axillary, pilose, tumid at base, dichotomously branched 

 at summit, in the larger specimens mostly with a central pedicel, the principal 

 branches diverging horizontally and cymosely subdivided ; branches and pedi- 

 cels mostly bracteate at base. Petals yellow, obovate, entire, about twice as long 

 as the calyx. Styles subcapitate, scarcely as long as the longest stamens, persist- 

 ent. Capsules half an inch to near an inch long, and 1 to 2 or 3 lines in diam- 

 eter, 5-angled, hairy, subacuminate. Seeds obo void, striate, 1 ransversely rugose, 

 reddish brown, emerging,at maturity, from the subcamose bivalved arillus. 



llab. Fields, and woodlands : very common. FL May— Sept Fr. July— Octo. 



Obs. This plant, so well known for its sprightly acid flavor, varies exceedingly 

 in size, and somewhat in habit,— being often of humble growth, diffuse, and occa- 



