72 



WEEDS AXD USEFUL PLAJfTS. 



Order XY. OXALIDA'CE^, (Wood-sorrel FAiiiLY.) 



Herbs with, sour juice and alternate compound leaves. Flowers regular nearly as in Gerani- 

 um — but the styles separate, and the fruit a 5-celled several-seeded capsule. 



1. OX'ALIS, L. Wood-sorrel. 



[Greek, oxys, sharp or sour.] 



Petals withering after expansion. Capsule membranaceous, deeply 

 5-lobed, 5-celled, each cell opening on the back. Seeds pendulous from 

 the axis, their outer coat loose and separating. Emhryo large and 

 straight in a fleshy albumen. Leaves of 3 obcordate leaflets, which close 

 and droop at nightfall, — the radical ones stipulate. 



Fig. 49. Cranes-bill (Geranium maculatum), a flowering summit. 60. A ripe fruit 

 enlarged, showing the carpels separating from the axis. 



