Oxalis articulata
Oxalis caerulea
pink oxalis, pink sorrell, windowbox wood-sorrel
blue wood-sorrel
basal;
petiole 11–30 cm;
leaflets 3, green to purplish abaxially, green adaxially, rounded-obcordate, 18–20 mm, margins densely loosely ciliate, lobed 1/5–1/3 length, lobes apically convex, surfaces evenly strigose-villous to strigose-hirsute, oxalate deposits in dots concentrated mostly toward margins or over whole surface.
basal;
petiole 3–10(–13) cm;
leaflets (3–)4(–5), green to purplish abaxially, green adaxially, obtriangular to obcordate, 5–22 mm, lobed 1/5–1/2 length, lobes apically rounded, surfaces glabrous, oxalate deposits absent or as few punctate tubercles near lobe apices.
usually umbelliform cymes, less commonly in irregular cymes, 3–12-flowered;
scapes 12–28 cm, sparsely strigose.
umbelliform cymes, (1–)2–7-flowered;
scapes 6–12(–15) cm, glabrous.
heterostylous;
sepal apices with 2 orange tubercles;
petals usually purplish rose to red, rarely white, 10–14 mm.
distylous;
sepal apices with 2 orange, linear tubercles;
petals red to pinkish lavender, 8–10 mm.
ovoid, 4–8 mm, sparsely strigose.
ellipsoid, 3.5–6 mm, glabrous.
= 42.
Oxalis articulata
Oxalis caerulea
Oxalis articulata in the United States commonly has been identified as O. rubra. Oxalis rubra was treated at subspecific rank by A. Lourteig (1982), but subsp. articulata and subsp. rubra have essentially the same native range and occur in similar habitats. Lourteig identified both subspecies in the United States, noting in her key that vestiture is reduced and the sepals are broader in subsp. rubra. Evidence is weak for recognizing more than a single entity. In the Flora of Panama (Lourteig 1980), she recognized only O. articulata, noting that it is naturalized in other parts of America and in the Old World.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
OR
CalFlora
Flora NW
LA Plants
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
