Ozxalis. } XX. GERANIACER. 95 
few European species, are remarkable for their leaves, with 3 obovate leaf- 
lets like those of a 7'rifolium. 
Flowers white. Peduncles radical, 1-flowered . 1. O. Acetosella. 
‘Flowers small, yellow. Stem elongated. Peduncles axillary . 2 O. corniculata, 
Many exotic species, with yellow or reddish flowers, have at various times 
been cultivated, either in our flower-gardens, or, for their tuberous root- 
stocks, as esculents. 
1, O. Acetosella, Linn. (fig. 216). Sorrel Oxalis, Wood-sorrel.— 
Rootstock shortly creeping, slender, but often knotted with thickened 
scales. Leaves radical, with long stalks, and 3 obovate, delicately green 
leaflets, with a slightly acid flavour. Peduncles radical, long and slender, 
bearing a single, rather large white flower, and 2 small bracts, about half- 
way up. Sepals small, ovate, obtuse, thin. Petals obovate, about 6 lines 
long, Capsule ovoid, with 2 shining black seeds in each cell. 
In woods, throughout Europe, Russian and central Asia, and northern 
America. Abundant in Britain. FV. early spring. This is believed to be 
the original of the Irish Shamrock, although that emblem is now repre- 
sented by Trifolium repens. 
2, O.corniculata, Linn. (fig. 217). Procumbent Oxalis.—A more 
or less downy annual, or, in warmer climates, a perennial, with slender, 
spreading branches, seldom above 6 inches long. Leaves of 3 deeply obcor- 
date leaflets, with small stipules at the base of the leafstalks. Peduncles 
slender, axillary, bearing an umbel of from 2 to 4, or rarely 5, pale yellow 
flowers, much smaller than in O. Acetosella. 
A common weed in all the hotter and most of the temperate regions of 
the globe. In Britain, only in a few localities in southern England, except 
where accidentally introduced into gardens. FU. the whole season. A 
closely allied American species, the O. stricta, with a more erect stem and 
no perceptible stipules, has also occasionally appeared among garden 
weeds. 
IV. IMPATIENS. BALSAM. 
Herbs, mostly glabrous or almost succulent, with alternate, undivided 
leaves, no stipules, and very irregular flowers. Sepals and petals all 
coloured, and consisting usually of 6 pieces, viz. 2 outer, opposite (sepals), 
flat and oblique; the next (upper sepal, although by the twisting of the 
pedicel it hangs lowest) large, hood-shaped, ending below in a conical spur ; 
the fourth (lower petal, but uppermost from the twisting of the pedicel) 
much smaller, but yet very broad, and somewhat concave ; the 2 innermost 
(petals) very oblique and irregularly shaped, more or less divided into two 
unequal lobes. Stamens 5, with very short, thick filaments, the anthers 
cohering in a mass round the pistil. Ovary 5-celled, with several ovules 
in each cell. Stigmas 5, minute, sessile or nearly so. Capsule bursting 
elastically in 5 valves, which roll inwards, scattering the seeds. 
A numerous genus, chiefly East Indian, with a few North American 
species. 
Flowers Jee Spur of the calyx loosely bent back, and 
entire . . 1, I. Noli-me-tangere, 
Flowers orange- -brown. § purs closely pent back ‘upon the 
calyx, and notched attheextremity . .« . . . 2. I, fulva, 
