134 O X A 
round, villofe, often tinged with purple, growing to half 
a'foot in height or more. Leaves alternate, collected in 
a fmall number at the rooting-parts of the Hems, ternate. 
Corolla twice as long as the calyx, fubcampanulate, yel¬ 
low ; antherse oblong, incumbent, yellow’; germ oblong, 
very-minutely villofe, pale-green. 
According to Mr. Miller, the root is long and flender, 
the trailing-ftalks fpread out eight or nine inches wide on 
every fide, dividing into fmall branches; the leaves are 
on pretty long foot-ftalks, and the leaflets are more deeply 
emarginated than in O. acetofella. The capfules are near 
an inch long : feeds brown, fcored tranfverfely, inclofed 
in afemitranfparent aril or feed-coat, which, being preffed, 
opens with a jerk, and throws out the feed to fome dis¬ 
tance. 
Jacquin is of opinion that the O. corniculata of Pol- 
lich and other Germans is rather his O. ftriCta, which he 
affirms to be always upright, except when it is beat down 
by the wind or any accident ; whereas the former is al¬ 
ways procumbent, the very extremities of the items and 
branches being clofe to the ground, like the runners of 
the ftrawberry ; the fliort flowering-branches only being 
upright: the item alfo creeps, but not the root, which is 
annual; whereas, inftriCta, the root is perennial, and it is 
that which creeps, not the item. Retzius indeed affirms 
that O. corniculata, protected from froft, is perennial; 
but that it always continues to be procumbent. 
Mr. Salilbury has altered the trivial name to pufilla, be- 
caufe it is of much dwarfer growth than the preceding, 
and the old epithet of corniculata is applicable to the 
whole genus. He defcribes the Item as creeping, the pe¬ 
tioles as roundifh, and llipuled at the bafe, with emar- 
ginate leaflets : the fegments of the corolla obcuneiform, 
gnawn a little at the tip, and the ltyles fcarcely the height 
of the longer filaments, and faftigiate ; perennial, but 
liable to be deftroyed by fevere froft : flowers from May 
to October. It is a native of Spain, Italy, Sicily, Greece, 
Auftria, Swiflerland, England, Japan, China, Cochin- 
china. Cultivated in 1656 by Mr. John Tradefcant, jun. 
It was not then known to be a native of England, and 
perhaps it may have eftablifhed itfelf fince that time in 
the mild climate of Devonfhire ; for it increafes very 
abundantly, and with great facility. It is faid to have 
been firft difcovered here by Mr. J. Turner, in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Exeter. In 1781 it was found near Dawlifh 
in Devonftiire, and, fince that, in feveral’other places of 
the fame county. Mr. Salilbury remarks, that it is a proof 
of the mildnefs of the climate in Devonftiire, that this 
and other fouthern plants occur in it, as Pinguicula Lu- 
fitanica, Sibthorpia Europsea, Lobelia urens, and Erica 
vagans. This circumftance, together with that of the 
Arbutus uredo and Andromeda Dabeocii, which laft 
grows alfo in Tenerifte, being found wfild in Ireland, 
teems to ftrengthen the conjecture, that fome violent 
concuffion of the globe has formerly removed thefe plants 
from warmerlatitudes. The foil in which the above-men¬ 
tioned plants feverally are found, and the ftruCture of 
their feeds, render it exceedingly improbable that the lea 
ftiould have tranfported them. To future geologifts, 
who may have other data to afcertain fo very doubtful a 
matter, poffibly the facts recorded by the humble bota- 
nifts of the prefent age may be of no fmall confequence, 
and ferve, among many others, to refcue their labours 
from that reproach of inutility which is too often thrown 
upon them by thofe who are foolifti. Linn. Tranf.W. 24.3. 
11. Oxalis repens, or creeping w’ood-forrel : Item 
proftrate, rooting; peduncles fubbiflorous ; ftyles nearly 
middling. Root fibrous, flender, branched. Stems ra¬ 
dical, feveral, herbaceous, filiform, leafy, villofe, pur- 
plifli, fome inches-in length; branchlets alternate, like 
the Item. Leaves alternate, ternate, like moft of the fpe¬ 
cies. Native of the Cape of Good Hope, Madagafcar, and 
Ceylon. 
2. Stipitated. 
12. Oxalis megalorrhiza, or great-rooted wood-forrel: 
L I S. 
leaves ternate; root many-ftumped. Root perennial,, 
round, an inch in diameter, about eight inches long, hav¬ 
ing feveral heads, divided below into branching legs, full 
of clefts, covered with a double bark, the outer very thin, 
brownifh afli-coloured, the inner two lines in thicknefs, 
red, watery, acrid ; the fubftance of it is white, watery, 
acrid, having red fibres in it running from the centre to 
the circumference. Leaves radical, feveral. Native of 
Peru, on mountains. This fpecies is Angular for the 
great fize of the root, whence its trivial name. The 
heads of it referable fo many fuffruticofe Items. 
13. Oxalis fericia, or filky wood-forrel: leaves ternate, 
tomentofe ; ftyles of middling length. Bulb deep in the 
ground. Stipe (landing out, villofe, having one or two 
fcales, about an inch in length, terminating in an umbel 
of leaves and fcapes. Leaves feveral. Native of the Cape 
of Good Hope. 
14. Oxalis violacea, or violet-coloured wood-forrel: 
leaves ternate, obfoletely villofe ; ftyles very (hort; inte¬ 
rior filaments equal; flowers, when clofed,drooping 3 when 
expanded, upright. Bulb roundifh-ovate, covered with a 
black coat, the fize of a hazel-nut or lefs, very prolific, 
confiding of whitifli flefhy fcales, and having one or two 
red lines running through them. The bulb fometimes 
produces flefhy roots, the thicknefs of a finger. The 
ftipes may be confidered as nothing but the lower part of 
the petioles and fcapes, and then this fpecies has no ftipe. 
Native of Virginia; introduced in 1772 by Samuel Mar¬ 
tin, M. D. It flowers in May and June : Jacquin fays, the 
whole fummer. 
15. Oxalis caprina, or goat’s-foot wood-forrel: leaves 
ternate, frnooth, half two-lobed ; ftyles very (hort; inte¬ 
rior filaments unequal; flowers upright. Native of the 
Cape of Good Hope. The next fpecies is confidered as 
the caprina in the generality of the European gardens, 
and is perhaps the caprina of Linnaeus; but this is the 
caprina of Thunberg and Jacquin. 
16. Oxalis cernua, or nodding wood-forrel: leaves Cer- 
nate, fmooth; ftyles very (hort; interior filaments equal; 
flowers, when clofed, drooping ; when expanded, upright. 
Bulb acuminate-ovate, fmooth, covered with a brown 
coat, nine lines in length. Stipe ftanding out, fometimes 
only a very little, fometimes an inch or two, often pro¬ 
cumbent, round, the thicknefs of a pigeon’s quill, fmooth, 
having a few fcales, terminated by an umbel of leaves 
and flowers; the longer one putting forth alfo other um¬ 
bels that are leafy, and at the fame time bulbiferous; then 
without interruption it proceeds from the bulb, pene- 
'■"ates the ground in various directions, and forms either 
a radical filiform fibre, or a capillary one, fome inches 
long, with fibrils, and generating little bulbs its whole 
length. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. Thunberg 
gave it the name of cernua, from its drooping flowers. 
17. Oxalis dentata : leaves ternate; petioles round; 
ftyles very long. Bulb oblong, half an inch long, co¬ 
vered with a brown ftriated coat. Stipe under ground 
for an inch In length, then rifing above ground from one 
to four inches, round, fmoothifh, brownifh-purple, more 
flender than a pigeon’s quill, having a few fcales, com¬ 
monly leaflets, except that it has now and then a fingle 
leaf at top, almoft upright or declining, terminated by an 
umbel of leaves and flowers. Leaves feveral, upright, and 
fpreading a little. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
It flowers here in November. 
18. Oxalis livida, or livid wool-forrel : leaves ternate, 
fmoothifh; fcapes two-flowered; ftyles middling. Bulb 
ovate, half an inch long, covered with a brown ftriated 
coat. Stipe partly fubterraneous, and from one to three 
inches long; partly Handing out, two or three inches, 
round, nearly the thicknefs of a pigeon’s quill, fmopth, 
leaflefs, upright, terminating in an umbel of many leaves, 
and fewer fcapes, then elongated beyond this, and end¬ 
ing in another leafy umbel. Native of the Cape of Good 
Hope. It flowers with us in October and November. 
19. Oxalis comprefla: leaves ternate, hirfute under¬ 
neath; petioles comprefled; ftyles very long. Stipe fub¬ 
terraneous, 
