Oxalis articulata |
Oxalis debilis |
|
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pink oxalis, pink sorrell, windowbox wood-sorrel |
pink wood-sorrel, world-wide wood-sorrel |
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Habit | Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes present, thick, woody, irregularly nodulate-segmented, often covered with persistent petiole bases, stolons absent, bulbs absent. | Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes and stolons absent, bulblets clustered; bulb scales 3-nerved. |
Leaves | 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 10–25 cm; leaflets 3, green to yellowish green, rounded-obcordate, 17–40(–50) mm, lobed 1/6–1/5 length, lobes apically convex, adaxial surface hirsute, adaxial surface glabrous, oxalate deposits in dots at least around distal margins, often evenly over surface. |
Inflorescences | usually umbelliform cymes, less commonly in irregular cymes, 3–12-flowered; scapes 12–28 cm, sparsely strigose. |
irregular cymes, (3–)8–14(–28)-flowered; scapes 15–28 cm, moderately villous to glabrate. |
Flowers | heterostylous; sepal apices with 2 orange tubercles; petals usually purplish rose to red, rarely white, 10–14 mm. |
mostly homostylous, infrequently tristylous; sepal apices with 2 orange tubercles; petals violet to lavender or rose purple, 10–16(–20) mm. |
Capsules | ovoid, 4–8 mm, sparsely strigose. |
not observed. |
2n | = 42. |
= 14, 28, rarely 35. |
Oxalis articulata |
Oxalis debilis |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jul. | Flowering Dec–May, rarely again in summer. |
Habitat | Disturbed places, especially near gardens, lawns, fields, roadsides. | Fencerows, yards, flower beds, roadsides, disturbed areas, hammock margins, sandy live oak woods, mesic woods, stream and river terraces. |
Elevation | 0–250 m. (0–800 ft.) | 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; CA; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; OK; OR; SC; TX; VA; South America (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Europe, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia]
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AL; CA; FL; GA; LA; MS; OR; SC; TX; WA; South America [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Central America, Europe, se Asia (Malesia), Pacific Islands, Australia]
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Discussion | 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.) |
Oxalis debilis appears to be spreading rapidly in the United States. The species produces numerous bulblets in a basal cluster and apparently also can spread laterally by production of bulblets at the tips of filiform roots or rhizomes; it can form large, dense colonies. A. Lourteig (1980) noted that plants of this species occasionally fruit but consistently reproduce through abundant bulblets. They apparently are seed-sterile in North America. Oxalis corymbosa and O. debilis were differentiated by A. Lourteig (2000) primarily by the distribution of oxalate deposits in the leaf lamina. In O. debilis, the dotlike deposits are crowded along the margins and absent to distinctly less abundant elsewhere. In O. corymbosa, the deposits are evenly distributed over the whole lamina. In their native range in South America, the two expressions are broadly sympatric and intermediates are common, as they are in the flora area. Intermediates have the oxalate dots along the margins as well as over the whole surface or sometimes mostly on the outer third of the blades, near the margins. There is no justification for formal recognition of two entities. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 153. | FNA vol. 12, p. 152. |
Parent taxa | Oxalidaceae > Oxalis | Oxalidaceae > Oxalis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | O. articulata subsp. rubra, O. rubra | Ionoxalis martiana, O. corymbosa, O. debilis subsp. corymbosa, O. debilis var. corymbosa, O. martiana |
Name authority | Savigny: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 4: 686. (1798) | Kunth: in A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. Gen. Sp. 5(fol.): 183; 5(qto.): 236. (1822) |
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