114 



Descriptive Flora 



juicy stems. Petals 5. Stamens 10. Pods several seeded, oblong, 

 about y± long. Bulbs small and consisting of thick scales. 

 People chew the leaves and stems for the sour but agreeable tast- 

 ing juice. Summer and fall. Widespread, but not common. 



Oxalis oorwimlata L. Yellow Wood-sorrel. Sour Grass. 

 (Xantlfioxulis corniculata [L.] Small.) 



Children like to chew the leaves of this plant because of the 

 agreeable sour taste. The thin clover-like leaf is made up of 3 

 short, broadly heart-shaped leaflets with their points united at 

 the tip of the long, slender leaf-stalks. Flowers bright golden 

 yellow, y± to V2" across, solitary or in pairs at the head of the 

 long, naked stalks that come out of the axils of the stem leaves. 

 Petals 5, thin, shallowly notched at the apex and usually with a 

 few red dashes at base. Stamens 10. Pods usually in pairs, 

 erect, oblong, angled, y 2 to 1 inch long, containing many tiny 

 seeds. Flowers open in bright sunlight and close at sundown. 

 Leaves are sensitive and droop and fold together at night or 

 when disturbed. 



ZYGOPHYLLACEAE. Caltrop Family. 

 Tribulus terrestris L. Sandbur. Bur-nut. Puncture Plant. 



Silky-hairy plants with radially spreading, prostrate 

 branches, well known in late summer for the treacherous burs 

 that are scattered along the stems. Leaves pinnately compound. 

 Leaflets 10 to 14, entire, and conspicuously unequally sided. 

 Flowers orange-yellow, y 2 inch or less across, solitary in the axils 

 of the leaves. Petals 5, falling early. Stamens 10. Pods small, 

 stout, 5-angled, and splitting into 5 sections each armed with a 

 pair of stout spines. Flowers open at night and close with the 

 appearance of the morning sun. In waste places. Introduced 

 from Southern Europe. 



