Oxalis.

Oxalis acetosella Linn. Geraniaceae. Oxalis. Wood Sorrel.

North temperate regions. This plant has for a long period been one of the minor vegetables in gardens although it seems to have been but rarely cultivated even in localities where the pleasant acidity of the leaves is esteemed in salads. Quintyne, 1690, grew it in the Royal Gardens in France, and it is described among garden esculents by Vil-morin but as one not often grown. The leaves have been used in Iceland from time immemorial as a spring salad and are likewise thus used by the French peasantry, as well as elsewhere throughout Europe, but the references imply generally the use of the wild plant.

Oxalis barrelieri Linn.

South America. The acid leaves are eaten in America.

Oxalis carnosa Molina. Oca.

Chile. The tubercles are the oca of Peru.

Oxalis cernua Thunb.

South Africa. The leaves are eaten.

Oxalis compressa Linn. f.

South Africa. The acid leaves are eaten at the Cape of Good Hope.

Oxalis corniculata Linn.

Borders of temperate and tropical regions. In India, the leaves are used as a potherb.

Oxalis crassicaulis Zucc.

Peru and Mexico. This seems one of the best of the wood sorrels which yield an edible root. It has nutritious tubers and edible leaves.

Oxalis crenata Jacq. Arracacha. Oca.

Peru. This species is cultivated in South America for its tuberous roots, which are about the size of hen's eggs, the skin being full of eyes like a potato. Herndon calls these tubers, when boiled or roasted, very agreeable to the taste. Carruthers says the plant is cultivated about Lima for its very acid leaf-stalks. It was introduced into England in 1829 but was found to be watery and insipid. There is a red and a yellow variety.

Oxalis deppei Lodd.

South America and Mexico. The plant produces fleshy, edible roots of moderate size. The roots are served boiled. The young leaves are dressed like sorrel, put in soups or used as greens, and the flowers are excellent in salad, alone or mixed with corn salad.

It was introduced into cultivation in England in 1827 and is now also cultivated in Prance, the stalks and leaves being used.

Oxalis enneaphilla Cav. Scurvy Grass.

Falkland Islands. The plant is eaten.

Oxalis frutescens Ruiz & Pav.

Peru. The acid leaves are eaten in America.

Oxalis plumieri Jacq.

South America and Antilles. Its leaves are eaten.

Oxalis tetraphylla Cav.

Mexico. It yields edible roots of not high quality.

Oxalis tuberosa Molina. Oca.

Chile. Oca is cultivated in the Andes from Chile to Mexico for its tubers, which vary from the size of peas to that of nuts and, says Unger, are of no very pleasant taste.

Oxalis violacea Linn.

North America. This species is edible.

Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick.