OXALIS CRENATA. 
NOTCHED-PETALLED WOOD-SORREL. 
Class. Order 
DECANDRIA. PENTAGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
OXALIDACEJE. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Introduced 
Lima. 
3 feet. 
July, Sept. 
Perennial. 
in 1829. 
No. 433. 
Oxalis is a name deduced from the Greek oxys, 
signifying sour. Crenata, from the Latin, notched, 
in allusion to its flowers. 
The Oxalis crenata is a far more robust plant than 
any other of the genus; but notwithstanding this, its 
stems are tender, succulent, and admirably suited to 
the purpose of yielding a grateful acidity to salads, 
as well as forming a delicious tart, which, probably, 
no one but ourselves has tried. 
It is not on account of the flowers or herbage of 
the Oxalis crenata that it becomes an object of pe- 
culiar interest, but from its tuberous roots. These 
bear a great resemblance to the potato. Their 
form and their colour is precisely similar to it; and 
they may also be divided into cuttings or sets, for 
propagation, as is the usual practice with our every- 
day vegetable. The most important consideration, 
however, is their value as food. We have boiled 
them, and find them to be quite as agreeable as the 
potato; so similar that they may be eaten without 
the difference being observed. When roasted, they 
indicate a deficiency of farinaceous substance ; there- 
fore, to give the comparison of nutritive matter con- 
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