Plate 15. 
OXALIS ENNEAPHYLLA. 
Family, GERANiACEiB, including Oxalidace^ : — Petals separate, twisted 
or imbricate in the bud. Stamens 10. Ovary superior. Leaves 
alternate, often compound. 
Genus, Oxalis {Wood Sorrel) : — Acid herbs (name from Greek oxiis, 
acid), the leaves and flower stalk springing from a rhizome. Leaves 
compound, sensitive. Flowers yellow, pink or white, regular. 
Sepals and petals 5, the latter contorted at the base. Stamens 
10, free, or united below. Ovary 5-celled. Styles 5. Fruit, 
a capsule. The outer skin of the seed is elastic. It splits and 
throws the inner part of the seed to a distance. 
Oxalis enneaphylla, Cav. (" Vinaigrette," Scurvy Grass.) 
Plant 6-11 in. liigh. Rhizome descending, eventually hori- 
zontal, 1-2 in. long, simple or branched, bulb-like, fleshy and 
scaly. Leaf stalks 4-9 in. long. Smooth or sometimes with 
a few hairs. Leaflets 7-20, 1-2 in. long, arranged in a radiating 
manner, often in several series entire, 2-lobed at apex, more or 
less hairy. Flower stalks like the leaf stalks, but bearing 
2 bracts. Flowers white, pink or pale mauve, scented. Sepals 
pale green, oblong, with silky hairs. Petals about 1 in. long, 
3 times as long as sepals, ovate, broadening towards apex. 
Stamens 10, filaments varying in length, the 5 longer having 
a large honey gland at the base. Styles white, hairy above, 
with yellowish-green capitate stigmas. 
Abundant, especially near the sea. 
Flowers November and December. 
East and West Falklands. 
This plant is one of the most beautiful found in the Falkland 
Islands and is characteristic, as it does not occur elsewhere. 
Hooker says, " it grows in such abundance on the banks over- 
hanging the sea at Berkeley Sound, as to cover them with a 
