[Illustration: DRUMMOND’S WOOD-SORREL]
Leaves digitately or pinnately divided; sepals 5; petals 5; stamens 10,
slightly united at base; ovary 5-celled; styles 5, free; fruit a
capsule.
Drummond’s Wood-Sorrel (_Oxalis drummondii_) is also called sour-grass,
vinegar-grass, oxalis, and violet wood-sorrel. It grows in dry soil from
Central Texas to New Mexico, blooming in the late summer and fall. It
has flowers like the violet wood-sorrel with similar basal leaves
growing from a bulb. As a rule, the plants and flowers are larger and
the leaflets are crescent-shaped. Oxalis flowers usually open in bright
sunlight, and the leaves close at night.
Violet Wood-Sorrel (_Oxalis violaceae_) is very abundant in the woods of
East Texas and on into the Western United States. The plants are
generally about six inches high. Children often eat the leaves, but a
considerable quantity will cause violent convulsions. The poisoning is
due to the presence of oxalic acid crystals, which give a sour taste to
the leaves.
The bulbs of many wood-sorrels are potted in the fall to provide house
flowers in February and March. Drummond’s wood-sorrel makes an excellent
border plant.
[Illustration: YELLOW WOOD-SORREL]
Yellow Wood-Sorrel (_Oxalis texana_) is a large flowered wood-sorrel in
East Texas. The golden-yellow petals are about ¾ in. long. The flower
stalk is about twice the length of the stem and leaves. It differs from
the large-flowered wood-sorrel of the Southern States (_Oxalis
macrantha_) by having smooth instead of hairy stamen filaments.
Many of the yellow wood-sorrels are common weeds throughout the state.
There are many different species. The white or pink-flowered wood-sorrel
(_Oxalis acetosella_) is considered by many people as the shamrock of
Ireland; but others consider white clover (_Trifolium repens_) as the
true shamrock.
Dichondra-Leaved Wood-Sorrel (_Oxalis dichondraefolia_) is a low plant
of Southern Texas and Mexico which has pale yellow flowers like the
yellow wood-sorrels, but the leaflets differ in being rounded and entire
and resemble the leaves of the dichondras (see page 101).