Discussion

The demonstration painting this week combines two subjects in the same composition. The subjects are oxalis and chicks, or baby chickens.

Oxalis

Oxalis is a genus of flowering plants comprised of over 550 species. Oxalis oregana, commonly known as redwood sorrel, has characteristics common to most oxalis species.

Note that the blossoms have five petals, and the leaves have three heart-shaped leaflets. That is typical of most oxalis species, though some have leaves with up to ten leaflets.

Many people confuse oxalis plants with clover, but the two are unrelated. The photo below is of the New Zealand White Clover (Trifolium repens). The leaves are rounder in shape, and the blossoms are totally different.

With St. Patrick's Day fast approaching, people may be thinking about shamrocks. Looking at the leaves, it is easy to confuse oxalis and clover plants. Which is the true shamrock? Here is a photo of one.

his plant, Trifolium dubium or lesser trefoil, suckling clover, little hop clover, or lesser hop trefoil is generally accepted as the primary plant to represent the traditional Irish shamrock. Both the leaves and the blossoms clearly match clovers in appearance. However, some oxalis species are known as false shamrocks and may be sold as shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day. They are more properly known as wood sorrels. Oxalis triangularis is one false shamrock species. There are purple and green varieties, both of which are shown below.

Note that the leaflets are triangular in shape rather than being heart-shaped, showing that there is variation among oxalis species. Something common to all oxalis species is that the leaflets all fold up at night. The blossoms of some oxalis species fold up at night, too.

The confusion about oxalis and shamrocks doesn't end with the examples shown above. Common names for Oxalis tetraphylla are iron cross shamrock, good luck shamrock, and lucky clover, though it is neither a shamrock nor a clover.

Chicks

By chicks, I mean baby chickens. Here is what they look like at an early stage.

Proper temperatures are needed for them to hatch. There are two kinds of incubators. This is the natural kind.

Hen Sitting on Eggs

Chicken eggs take about three weeks to hatch.

It doesn't take long for them to dry out. Some of the moisture may be absorbed by the mother hen's feathers. The speed depends on the humidity. Some professional chicken ranchers say that hair dryers help a lot, and the chicks love the warm air.

Baby chicks have enough leftover energy from egg yolks that they don't need to eat until about 24 hours after hatching. They can eat any normal chicken food when they need to. They especially love worms. 

Artwork

Netsuke

Netsuke were elaborately carved objects that were used to help Japanese kimono-wearing men secure inro to their obi, needed because kimonos had no pockets. Inro were small, multi-section boxes that would hold medicine and small implements. They were connected to netsuke by a cord, and the netsuke was threaded through obi, holding the whole thing in place.

Here are three views of a netsuke carved like a hatching chick. The two holes on the back side were where the cord was attached.

Ohara Koson (1877 – 1945)

Koson was a prominent member of the early 20th century shin-hanga (new prints) movement that sought to restore traditional techniques, subjects, and values to Japanese printed artwork. His Baby Chickens and Worm print was produced sometime in the 1900 to 1920 time frame.