OXALITEE, or a natural order of exogenous plants, allied to gerani ame; including herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees; with generally compound alter nate Laves; calyx of live equal persistent sepals; corolla of five equal unguiculatc petals, spirally twisted in bud; ten stamens, usually more or less united by the filaments, in two rows; the ovary usually 5-celled, with five styles; time fruit a capsule opening by as many or twice as many valves as it has cells, or more rarely a berry; the seeds few, attached to the axis. There are upwards of 300 known species, natives of warm and temperate climates. They are particularly abundant in North America and at the cape , of Good Hope. The flora of Britain includes only two small species of oxalis. An acid juice is very characteristic of this order. Some of the tropical species produce agreeable acid fruits, as the carambola(q.v.).—The genus oxalis has a capsular fruit, and the seeds have an elastic integument, which at last bursts open and projects the seed to a distance. The species are mostly herbaceous plants with tcrnate or digitate—rarely simple or pinnate—leaves; a few are shrubs. The stems and leaves generally contain a notable quantity of binoxceate (f potash., and have therefore a sour taste.—The COMMON WOOD SOnREL (0. acetosella). very abundant in shady woods and groves in Britain and most parts of Europe, a native also of North America, is a beautiful little plant, often cover ing the ground with its green leaves, amidst which the white or slightly roseate flowers appear. Its leaves all grow from the root, a long leaf-stalk bearing three ohovate leaf lets; the seape bears a single flower. There is a subterranean scaly root-stock. On account of their grateful acid taste the leaves are used in salads and sauces. The plant i3 extremely abundant in Lapland, and is much used by the Laplanders. It is anti scorhutic and refrigerant, and an infusion of it is a grateful drink in fevers. Bino.valate of potash is obtained from the leaves by expressing the juice and crystallizing; and is sold not only under the name of salt of sorrel, but also of es: ential salt of lemons, and is used for extracting spots, mid particularly iron-marks, from linen and for other purposes. Much of it is now, however, obtained from a very different source. See OxAmc Am.—
p 0. cornieulata, ram in Britain, and almost confined to the south of England, but a plant of very extensive distribution, being found in Europe, North America, India, Japan, j and some of the African islands, has a branched stem, with decumbent branches, leaves very similar to those of the common wood-sorrel and yellow flowers. Its properties agree with those of the commoa wood-sorrel. Many other species resemble. these in their general appearance and properties. Sonic of the species exhibit an irritability like that of the sensitive plant; generally, as in the two British species, in a slight degree, and notably only in hot sunshine, but 0. sensiliva, an East Indian species, with pinnate leaves, possesses this property in a high degree. Some species of oxalis, as 0. cernua, native of South Africa, are remarkable for producing large bulbils in the axils of the lower leaves. Several species have tuberous roots, and are cultivated on account of their tubers; as 0. erenata and 0. tuberosa, natives of Peru and Bolivia, where they are much esteemed, and both receive the name OcA. The tubers when cooked become mealy like potatoes. They have a slightly acid taste. 0. crenata has been cultivated in gardens in Britain for about 30 years, Imit continues to be almost exclusively an object of curiosity, being too tender for the climate, and its produce very inconsiderable in quantity. Its tubers are yellow, in size and shape like small potatoes. The succulent stalks of the leaves abound in a pleasant acid juice, and make excellent tarts and pre serves. 0. tuberosa produces numerous small tubers. The Bolivians often expose them for a long time to the sun, by which they lose acidity, become saccharine, and acquire a taste and consistence like dried figs. 0. Deppel is a Mexican species, with a root some• what like a small parsnip, quite free of acidity. It is much cultivated in its native country, and succeeds well in the southern parts of England. 0. tetraphylla and 0. erassicaulis, natives of Mexico, and 0. enneaphea, a native of the Falkland islands, also have eatable roots. Many species of oxalis are much esteemed as ornaments of gardens and green-houses.