N. 0. GEttANUOE-E. 
237 
A pilose stemless herb. Root-stock creepy scaly. Leaves 
all radical, 3-foliate ; leaflets broadly obcordate, often purple 
beneath, i-fin., petioles 3-6in., stipules large broad mem- 
branous. Scape axillary, slender, 2-bracteate, about the middle. 
Flowers yellow, solitary, in., diam. Sepals oblong. Petals 
obovate white or pale-rose, veined with purple, erose, cohering 
above the claw. Capsule erect, pentagonal. Cells 2-3-seeded. 
Flowers throughout the year, leaves have an acid taste. Very 
common in cultivated ground. 
(lues: —Although at one time this found a place in the Lon- 
don Pharmacopeia, yet in India no account appears to exist of 
any supposed medicinal virtues inherent in this species. In Eu- 
rope it was introduced into the Pharmacopoeia as a refrigerant 
in fever, and as an anti-scorbutic in scurvy, but has now fallen 
into disuse. (Watt.' 
The leaves contain a large quantity of binoxalate of potash, 
when the juice is evaporated, this salt is deposited in crystals, 
and so prepared was formerly sold as “ salt of lemons ” or 
“salts of sorrel,” for removing iron stains ; but since the manu- 
facture of oxalic acid from other sources, it is seldom used. 
A decoction of the leaves in whey is used in the Hebrides 
for putrid fevers ; infused in water they form an agreeable 
cooling drink in all febrile disorders, and a conserve made of 
the leaves beaten up with sugar is recommended for the same 
purpose. 
The wood sorrel approaches the nearest of all our native 
plants to the Sensitive plant, not only closing its petals and 
folding its bright green leaves at sunset and with every change 
of atmosphere but even if the stem be rudely or repeatedly 
struck. (Sowerby’s English Botany). 
215 . Biopliytxun sens'tivum, D.C. h.f.b.i., 
i . 436 . 
Sans : — Jhalla-pushpa. 
Vern :— Laban Amulki, Ladjri (Mar.); Zarer (Guj and Pore- 
bunder) ; Lak-Chana, Lajalu, zarair ; (Hind) ; Gas-nidikumba 
(Sinhalese). 
