Flora of North America species comparison

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Oxalis articulata

Oxalis oregana

pink oxalis, pink sorrell, windowbox wood-sorrel

Oregon oxalis, Oregon wood-sorrel, red wood-sorrel
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 present, fleshy-thickened, densely scaly, stolons absent, bulbs absent.
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, clustered at rhizome tips;

petiole 5–15(–21) cm, sparsely to densely villous, hairs rusty;

leaflets 3, green, broadly obcordate, 10–30(–40) mm, lobed 1/5–1/4 length, lobes apically convex, surfaces sparsely villous, oxalate deposits absent.
Inflorescences

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

scapes 12–28 cm, sparsely strigose.

1-flowered;

scapes (6–)11–25 cm, glabrous or sparsely villous.
Flowers

heterostylous;

sepal apices with 2 orange tubercles;

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

heterostylous;

sepal apices without tubercles;

petals white to deep pink, usually with yellow spot sub-basally and prominent purple veins, (8–)15–25 mm.
Capsules

ovoid, 4–8 mm, sparsely strigose.

ovoid, 6–8(–12) mm, glabrate.
2n

= 42.

Oxalis articulata

Oxalis oregana
Phenology Flowering Mar–Jul. Flowering Feb–Sep.
Habitat Disturbed places, especially near gardens, lawns, fields, roadsides. Douglas fir, mixed fir, cedar-spruce, mixed conifer, and hemlock-maple forests, maple woodlands, alder glens, Gaultheria thickets, stream banks.
Elevation 0–250 m. (0–800 ft.) 10–800(–1000) m. (0–2600(–3300) 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
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county 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.)

Oxalis oregana has sometimes been treated as a disjunct geographical taxon of the European O. acetosella Linnaeus (see comments under 21. O. montana).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 153. FNA vol. 12, p. 148.
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. latifolia, O. laxa, O. macrantha, O. metcalfei, O. montana, 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 O. acetosella subsp. oregana, O. oregana var. smalliana, O. oregana var. tracyi, O. smalliana
Name authority Savigny: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 4: 686. (1798) Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 211. (1838)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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