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O X A 
quire no artificial warmth ; if thefe are protected from 
the froft it is fufficient, and in mild weather they muft 
have a large fn are of free air. In the fummer they 
muft be placed abroad in afheltered fituation, among 
other hardy exotic plants, where they will add to the 
variety, and flower great part of the feafon. Thefe 
may be all propagated by cuttings during the fum- 
mer months, which fhould be planted upon an old 
hot-bed, and covered with glafles, lhading them from 
the fun in the heat of the day. When thefe have 
taken root, they fhould be planted each into a feparate 
pot filled with loft loamy earth, placing them in the 
ihade till they have taken new root ; then they may 
be removed to a fhekered fituation, where they may 
remain till autumn, treating them in the fame way as 
the old plants. 
The fecond fort will live in the open air if it is planted 
in a warm fituation and a dry foil. Some of thefe 
plants have endured the open air for more than 
twenty years in the Chellea Garden, without protec- 
tion. This is eafily propagated by cuttings, in the 
fame way as the former. 
OXALIS. Lin. Gen. Plant. 515. Oxys. Tourn. Inft. 
R. H. 88. tab. 19. Wood-forrel. 
The Characters are. 
The empajement of the flower is floort , permanent , and 
cut into five acute fegments. ’The flower is of one petal, 
cut into five ohtufe indented fegments almoft to the bottom ; 
it hath ten ere hi hairy ftamina , terminated by roundijh fur- 
rowed fummits , and agermen with five angles, fupporting 
five fiender ftyles, crowned by obtufe fiigmas. The germen 
afterward becomes a five-cornered capfule with five cells, 
which open longitudinally at the angles, containing roundijh 
feeds, which are thrown out with an elafticity on the 
touch when ripe. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the fifth fecftion of 
Linnaeus’s tenth clafs, which includes thofe plants 
whofe flowers have ten ftamina and five ftyles. 
The Species are, 
1. Oxalis ( Acetofella ) fcapo unifloro, foliis ternatis, ra- 
dice fquamofo-articulata. Hort. Cliff. 175. Wood-for- 
rel with one flower on a foot-ftalk, trifoliate leaves, and a 
fcaly jointed root. Oxys fiore albo. Tourn. Inft. 88. 
Wood-forrel with a white flower. 
2. Oxalis ( Corniculata ) caule ramofo diffufo, pedun- 
culis umbelliferis. Hort. Cliff. 175. Wood-forrel with 
a branching diffufed ftalk, and umbellated foot-ftalks. 
Oxys lutea. J. B. Tellow Wood-forrel. 
3. Oxalis ( Strihia ) caule ramofo eretfto, pedunculis 
umbelliferis. Flor. Virg. 161. Wood-forrel with a 
branching upright ftalk, and umbellated foot-ftalks. Oxys 
lutea, Americana, eredtior. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 88. 
Upright, yellow, American Wood-forrel. 
4. Oxaihs ( Incarnata ) caule fubramofo bulbifero, pe- 
dunculis unifloris, foliis paflim verticillatis foliolis ob- 
cordatis. Lin. Sp. 622. Wood-forrel with branching 
ftalks bearing bulbs, the leaves generally in whorls, and 
the fmall leaves heart-fhaped. Oxys bulbofa fEthiopiea 
minor, folio cordato, flore ex albido purpuralcente. 
Tourn. Inft. 89. Smaller bulbous Ethiopian Wood-forr el, 
with a heart-ftoapedleaf, and apurplijh white flower. 
5. Oxalis ( Purpurea ) fcapo unifloro, foliis ternatis, ra- 
dice bulbosa. Hort. Cliff. 175. Wood-forrel with a 
foot-ftalk fupporting one flower, trifoliate leaves, and a 
bulbous root. Oxys bulbofa Africana, rotundifolia, 
caulibus & fioribus purpureis amplis. Hort. Amft. 1. 
p. 41. tab. 21. African bulbous Wood-forrel, having a 
round leaf, and large purple ftalks and flowers. 
6. Oxalis ( Pef-capra ?) fcapo umbellifero, foliis ternatis 
bipartitis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 434. Wood-forrel with an 
umbelliferous ftalk, and trifoliate leaves divided in two 
parts. Oxalis bulbofa pentaphylla & hexaphylla, flo- 
ribus magnis luteis & copiofls. Burm. Afr. 80. tab. 
29. Bulbous Wood-forrel with five or fix leaves, and large 
yellow flowers in abundance. 
7. Oxalis ( Frutefcens ) caule eredto fruticofo, foliis ter- 
natis, irnpari maximo. Wood-forrel with an upright 
Jhrubby ftalk , and trifoliate leaves , the middle one being 
very large. Oxys lutea frutefcens, trifolii bituminoii 
facie. Plum. Cat. 2.' Tellow fhrubby Wopd-forrel , with 
the appearance of bituminous Trefoil . 
8. Oxalis (. Barreleri ) caule ramofo erefto, peduricuii 
bifidis racemifefis. Lin. Sp. 624. Wood-forrel with dh 
ere A branching ftalk , and branching bifid foot-ftalks. Tri- 
folium acetofum Americanum, rubra flore. Barrel. Rar. 
64. Three-leaved American Wood-forrel, with a red flower « 
The firft fort grows naturally in moift fhady woods, 
and clofe to hedges in moft parts of England, fo is 
but feldom admitted into gardens j though whoever 
is fond of acid herbs in fallads, can fcarce find a more 
grateful add in any other plant. The roots of this 
fort are compofed of many fcaly joints, which propa- 
gate in great plenty. The leaves arife immediately 
from the roots upon Angle long foot-ftalks, are com- 
pofed of three heart-fhaped lobes, which meet in a 
center, where they join the foot-ftalk 5 they afe of a pale 
green and hairy •, between thefe come out the flowers 
upon pretty long foot-ftalks, each fuftaining, one 
large white flower of the open bell fhape. Thefe 
appear in April and May, and are fucceeded by five* 
cornered oblong feecl-veffels having five cells, in- 
clofing fmall brownifh feeds ; when thefe are ripe, the 
feed-veffels burft open at the leaft touch, and caft 
out the feeds to a confiderable diftance. This is the 
fort which is directed for medicinal ufe in the difpen- 
faries ; but thofe people who liipply the market with 
herbs, generally bring the third fort, which is now 
become common in the gardens; but this hath very lit- 
tle acid, fo is unfit for the purpofes of the other ; but as 
it riles with an upright branching ftalk, fo it is foon 
gathered and tied up in bunches; whereas the leaves of 
the firft grow fingly from the root, and require more 
time in gathering. There is a variety of the firft fort 
with a purplifh flower, which grows naturally in the 
North of England, but, as it does not differ from it 
in any other refpeft, I have not enumerated it. 
The fecond fort is an annual plant, which grows na- 
turally in woods and fhady places in Italy and Sicily. 
The root of this is long, fiender, and fibrous ; the 
ftalks trail upon the ground, fpreading out eight or 
nine inches wide on every fide, dividing into fmall 
branches ; the leaves ftand upon pretty long foot- 
ftalks, and are compofed of three heart-fhaped lobes, 
which have deeper indentures at their points than 
thofe of the firft fort. The flowers are yellow, grow- 
ing in form of an umbel, upon pretty long fiender foot- 
ftalks, arifing from the fide of the branches. Thefe 
appear in June and July, and are fucceeded by feed- 
veffels near an inch long, which open with an elafti- 
city, and caft out the feeds. 
The third fort grows naturally in Virginia and other 
parts of North America, from whence the feeds were 
formerly brought to Europe ; but wherever this plant 
has been once introduced and buffered to ripen feeds, 
it has become a common weed. This is an annual 
plant, rifing with a branching herbaceous ftalk eight 
or nine inches high ; the leaves ftand upon very lono- 
foot-ftalks, and are fhaped like thofe of the fecond 
fort. The flowers are yellow, Handing in a fort of 
umbel, upon long, fiender, erefl foot-ftalks ; the feed- 
veffels and feeds are like thofe of the fecond fort. 
Thefe three forts require no particular culture ; if 
the roots of the firft fort are taken up and tranfplanted 
in a fhady moift border, they will thrive and multiply 
exceedingly ; and if they are kept clean from weeds, 
will require no other care. If the feeds of the other 
two forts are fown in an open border, the plants will 
rife freely, and require no care ; for if they are 
permitted to fcatter their feeds, there will be a plenti- 
ful fupply of the plants. 
The fourth fort hath a roundifh bulbous root, from 
which come out fiender ftalks about fix inches, hip-h, 
which divide into branches by pairs, and from the'di- 
vifions come out the foot-ftalks of the leaves; thefe 
are long, flender, and fuftain a trifoliate leaf compofed 
of three fmall, roundifh, heart-fhaped lobes. The foot- 
ftalks of the flowers are long, fiender, and arife from 
the divifion of the ftalks, each fuftaining one purplifh 
flower about the fame fize and fhape as thofe of the 
firft fort. This flowers in May, June, and July, an d 
fometimes produces ripe feeds in England. It grows 
naturally at the Cape of Good Hope, io is too tender’ 
to' 
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