OX'ALIS TETRAPHYL'LA. 
FOUR-LEAVED WOOD SORREL. 
Class. Order. 
DBCANDRIA. PENTAGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
OXALIDACE®. 
Native of 
Height 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Introduced 
Mexico. 
3 inches. 
June, July. 
Perennial. 
in 1823. 
No. 735. 
Oxalis, from the Greek oxys, signifying sharp 
or sour, a quality for which this genus is particu- 
larly distinguished. This species is named tetra- 
phylla, from its having four leaflets on each stalk. 
It will have been observed by most of our readers 
that three leaflets are the prevailing number on 
each leaf-stalk in this extensive genus, as is the 
case with Oxalis crenata, (No. 433,) Oxalis ace- 
tocella, or common wood sorrel, and of almost 
two hundred other species; there are, however, a 
few with more or less — so bountiful is nature in her 
never-ending variety. It is not alone to the num- 
ber of leaflets, in a compound leaf, that w^e would 
direct the attention of the philosopher or moralist, 
but also to the infinity of shapes exhibited both by 
leaflets and simple leaves. A comparison of the 
forms of a few of those produced by the most com- 
mon plants cannot fail to awaken mixed feelings 
of surprise and admiration — even of wonder and 
reverence, when contemplated as objects far ex- 
ceeding our comprehension. It is, however, the 
privilege of rational beings to discover their beauty 
— to be the recipients of pleasure from meditation 
