OXALIS SuxspoxFil Trelease, Mem. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 4: 89. [ 888. Oxalis pumila Nutt. ; T. & G. Fl. N. A. r : 212, 183. Not D'Urv. [826.
Perennial by a slender horizontal or creeping woody rootstock, caulescent, low and bushy or much elongated, somewhat pilose or sparingly vinous. Stems ascending or decumbent, .5-4 dm. long, simple or nearly so ; leaves palmately 3-foliolate, 2-3 cm. broad, us ually glabrate except the ciliate edge ; petioles slender, 3-8 cm. long; stipules obsolete, or a narrow dilation ; leaflets broader than long, sharply notched, the lobes usually unequal, ciliate; peduncles usually surpassing the leaves ; pedicels forming umbellate cymes, commonly 2, subtended by linear-subulate bracts ; flowers usually bright yellow, about 2 cm. broad ; sepals oblong or oblong-lan ceolate, 4-5 mm. long, obtuse, villous, erect or ascending ; petals obovate, [2-15 mm. long, undulate; filaments pilose ; capsule conic, 8-1r mm. long, about twice as long as the sepals, usually pubescent ; seed oval in outline, nearly 2.5 mm. long, its tubercles almost united into continuous transverse ridges.
Oregon and California.
The second species described by Mr. Nuttall in this connection, under the name Oxalis pilasa is just as worthy of specific rank as Oxalis Suksdoi. It is apparently rarer ; however the scarcity of
it in our herbaria may be due to the fact that some collectors are inclined to pass by apparently well-known species in the field. The history of this species is shorter than that of Oxalis Buksdaifii; it begins with the original description* and ends with its union to Oxalis col-aim/am var. (?) inacrantlia,t as in the case of its sister species.
Mr. Nuttall collected his type in " Woods around St. Barbara, California," as is shown by his description and the label accom panying the type. The original specimen is sufficient to mark it as a very distinct species, and to support this I found an ample specimen preserved in the Torrey herbarium, which agrees with Nuttall's type in every particular. This second specimen consists of two plants which were collected in the " Valley of the Sacra mento, California," by Dr. Stillman.
The gross characters which separate Oxalis pilosa from Oxalis Suksdallii are habit, the densely pale pilose pubescence found on the stems, petioles, peduncles and pedicels, and the longer col umnar pods. The species doubtlesss occurs in many herbaria. I give the following description :