1. P. australe, Jacq. Eclog. t. 100.—A decumbent or erect simple or branched more or less hairy herb 6-18 in. high; rootstock stout. Leaves on slender petioles 2–6 in. long; blade 1–2 in. diam., ovate-cordate or orbicular-cordate, obscurely 3–5-lobed; lobes finely crenate-serrate, obtuse; stipules broad. Peduncles longer than the leaves; umbels 10–12-flowered. Flowers small, ¼–⅓ in. diam., pink. Sepals ovate, acute, hairy; spur usually very short. Petals from ⅓ to ½ as long again as the sepals, spathulate, notched. Fertile stamens 5, the remainder reduced to membranous scale-like staminodia. Carpels very hairy, their beaks long, lined on the inner face with long soft white hairs.—Benth. Fl. Austral. i. 298; Kirk, Students' Fl. 82. P. australe var. clandestinum, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 37. P. clandestinum, L'Herit ex D.C. Prodr. i. 160; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 595; Raoul, Choix, 47; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 41.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Abundant throughout, ascending to 2000 ft. Kopata. November–February.
Also found in Australia and Tasmania, and in Tristan d'Acunha, and probably identical with the South African P. grossularioides, Ait.
3. OXALIS, Linn.
Herbs, stemless or caulescent. Leaves all radical or alternate, compound, usually 3-foliolate, stipulate or exstipulate. Flowers regular, on axillary 1-or more-flowered peduncles. Sepals 5, imbricate. Petals 5, hypogynous, contorted. Disc without glands. Stamens 10, free or connate at the base, all anther-bearing. Ovary 5-lobed, 5-celled; styles 5, distinct; ovules 1 or more in each cell. Capsule loculicidally dehiscing, the valves persistent on the axis. Seeds with an outer fleshy coat which bursts elastically; testa crustaceous; albumen fleshy.
A large genus of over 200 species, chiefly found in South America and South Africa, with a few widely dispersed in most parts of the world.
| Stem elongated. Peduncles axillary, 1-6-flowered. Flowers yellow | 1. O. corniculata. |
| Stem short or wanting. Peduncles radical, 1-flowered. Flowers white | 2. O. magellanica. |
1. O. corniculata, Linn. Sp. Plant. 435.—A prostrate, decumbent or ascending, glabrous or pubescent, much-branched perennial 2–12 in. long; stems often matted. Leaves alternate, on long or short petioles, 3-foliolate; leaflets broadly obcordate, very variable in size, 18–1 in. long, glaucous beneath. Stipules minute, adnate to the petiole or wanting. Peduncles axillary, 1–6-flowered, about as long as the petioles. Flowers yellow, variable in size. Sepals acute or obtuse. Petals obcordate, notched. Capsule oblong or linear, subcylindric; seeds few or many in each cell.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 42; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 38; Benth. Fl. Austral. i. 301; Kirk, Students' Fl. 83.
