OXALIDACEtE. 



131 



The name is derived from the sharp or sour properties of 

 the juices of this genus. There are many species, both 

 hardy and also inhabitants of the greenhouse, and very 

 pretty plants they are, besides being particularly useful, as 

 there are species which flower in the spring, and others in the 

 autumn. Out of the eighty or ninety species a choice may 

 be made which will keep the house constantly gay ; it will 

 be useless to enumerate so many names, as a list may be 

 obtained at the cultivators'; a few only will be noticed. 0. 

 Bowiei is a very beautiful species from the Cape, having 

 flowers of a fine rosy red, with a yellow tube; it will live in 

 the open air, but flowers very profusely in the greenhouse, 

 especially if it be allowed a period of rest at midsummer : 

 it should have a sandy loam. 0. Brasiliensis, a very lovely 

 plant, is a native of Brazil, with rose-coloured flowers which 

 appear in May, and is more tender than the last, not bear- 

 ing to be placed out-of-doors. 0. crenata, from Lima, is 

 nearly hardy, but looks well under shelter ; its fine orange- 

 coloured flowers make a pleasing contrast to the above- 

 mentioned species. 0. speciosa, elegans, cuprea, and specta* 

 bilis are interesting species, indeed all the species from 

 the Cape are worthy of a place in the greenhouse ; they 

 are easily increased by offsets, and should be grown in light 



