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pink oxalis, pink sorrell, windowbox wood-sorrel

broad-leaf wood-sorrel, Mexican oxalis

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, bulb solitary; bulb scales (5–)7–9(–11)-nerved, inner thickened, white, margins hyaline.
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 (6–)10–25 cm;

leaflets 3, green, obtriangular to obcordate, (15–)25–40 mm, lobed 1/5–1/2 length, lobes apically rounded, surfaces glabrous, oxalate deposits absent.

Inflorescences

usually umbelliform cymes, less commonly in irregular cymes, 3–12-flowered;

scapes 12–28 cm, sparsely strigose.

umbelliform cymes, (3–)6–10(–12)-flowered;

scapes (7–)10–20(–30) cm, glabrous.

Flowers

heterostylous;

sepal apices with 2 orange tubercles;

petals usually purplish rose to red, rarely white, 10–14 mm.

usually tristylous, rarely homostylous;

sepal apices with 2 orange, short to elongate, not confluent tubercles;

petals white to pale green proximally with green veins, purple to lavender or pink distally, 9–12 mm.

Capsules

ovoid, 4–8 mm, sparsely strigose.

cylindric, 4–6 mm, glabrous.

2n

= 42.

= 14, 28, 42.

Oxalis articulata

Oxalis latifolia

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jul. Flowering Jun–Sep(–Oct).
Habitat Disturbed places, especially near gardens, lawns, fields, roadsides. Rocky slopes, ledges and crevices, ridge tops, canyons, sandy washes, flood plains, mesquite-baccharis, mesquite-acacia, hackberry-willow, oak-juniper-pinyon, oak-maple, or pine-oak woodlands.
Elevation 0–250 m. (0–800 ft.) (1100–)1300–2200(–2800) m. ((3600–)4300–7200(–9200) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
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]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; TX; Mexico [Introduced in West Indies, Europe, Asia (Pakistan), Africa (South Africa), Atlantic Islands (Canary Islands), Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
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.)

Collections of Oxalis latifolia from trans-Pecos Texas and eastern New Mexico were mostly identified by M. F. Denton (1973) as O. alpina and O. drummondii. Oxalis latifolia in the narrow sense (type from Campeche, Mexico), with somewhat angular leaflets, occurs in Mexico as far north as Veracruz, San Luis Potosí, and Tamaulipas. The northern populations tend to have more rounded leaflets and perhaps may be better identified by a different name, but they are neither O. alpina (with bulblet clusters) nor O. drummondii (with three-nerved bulb scales).

M. F. Denton (1973) observed that Oxalis latifolia probably consists of several races and perhaps hybrids with other species. A. Lourteig (2000) recognized four subspecies of O. latifolia. Her concept of subsp. latifolia restricted it to South America and the West Indies (even though the type was collected in Mexico); subsp. schraderiana (Kunth) Lourteig is entirely South American; and subsp. vespertilionis (Zuccarini) Lourteig occurs in montane Mexico south to Guatemala. She recognized subsp. galeottii (Turczaninow) Lourteig as occurring from Mexico into the United States. In contrast, most others have treated O. galeottii Turczaninow as a distinct species of central and southern Mexico, broadly sympatric with O. latifolia.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 12, p. 153. FNA vol. 12, p. 151.
Parent taxa Oxalidaceae > Oxalis Oxalidaceae > Oxalis
Sibling taxa
O. albicans, O. bowiei, O. brasiliensis, O. caerulea, O. californica, O. colorea, O. corniculata, O. debilis, O. decaphylla, O. dichondrifolia, O. dillenii, O. drummondii, O. florida, O. frutescens, O. grandis, O. hirta, O. hispidula, O. illinoensis, O. incarnata, O. intermedia, O. latifolia, O. laxa, O. macrantha, O. metcalfei, O. montana, O. oregana, O. pes-caprae, O. pilosa, O. purpurea, O. stricta, O. suksdorfii, O. texana, O. triangularis, O. trilliifolia, O. violacea
O. albicans, O. articulata, O. bowiei, O. brasiliensis, O. caerulea, O. californica, O. colorea, O. corniculata, O. debilis, O. decaphylla, O. dichondrifolia, O. dillenii, O. drummondii, O. florida, O. frutescens, O. grandis, O. hirta, O. hispidula, O. illinoensis, O. incarnata, O. intermedia, O. laxa, O. macrantha, O. metcalfei, O. montana, O. oregana, O. pes-caprae, O. pilosa, O. purpurea, O. stricta, O. suksdorfii, O. texana, O. triangularis, O. trilliifolia, O. violacea
Synonyms O. articulata subsp. rubra, O. rubra Ionoxalis latifolia
Name authority Savigny: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 4: 686. (1798) Kunth: in A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. Gen. Sp. 5(fol. & qto.): plate 467. (1822)
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