Oxalis articulata |
Oxalis purpurea |
|
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pink oxalis, pink sorrell, windowbox wood-sorrel |
purple oxalis, purple 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, slender, sparsely scaly, stolons absent, bulb solitary, 1–2.5 cm, or with clustered bulblets; bulb scales black, thickened, not prominently 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, rarely absent at flowering; petiole (1.5–)3–5 cm; leaflets 3, green to deep purple abaxially, green adaxially, broadly obovate to obtriangular or broadly rounded-rhombic, 10–20 mm, not lobed, apex truncate to rounded or obtuse, rarely slightly emarginate, margins and abaxial surface hairy, adaxial surface glabrous, oxalate deposits absent. |
Inflorescences | usually umbelliform cymes, less commonly in irregular cymes, 3–12-flowered; scapes 12–28 cm, sparsely strigose. |
1-flowered; scapes 1.5–6(–8) cm, sparsely to moderately villous, hairs eglandular. |
Flowers | heterostylous; sepal apices with 2 orange tubercles; petals usually purplish rose to red, rarely white, 10–14 mm. |
tristylous; sepal apices without tubercles; petals yellow basally, usually purple to red, pink, salmon, or white, rarely yellow, distally, 25–35 mm. |
Capsules | ovoid, 4–8 mm, sparsely strigose. |
not seen. |
2n | = 42. |
|
Oxalis articulata |
Oxalis purpurea |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jul. | Flowering Feb–Apr. |
Habitat | Disturbed places, especially near gardens, lawns, fields, roadsides. | Waste places, especially near gardens. |
Elevation | 0–250 m. [0–800 ft.] | 20–100 m. [70–300 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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CA; s Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Europe, Australia] |
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 purpurea is widely cultivated as an ornamental because of its large, solitary flowers in many color forms, borne on short scapes barely higher than the level of the leaves. Plants of O. purpurea apparently do not produce fertile fruit in California, where it is naturalized in scattered central and southern coastal counties. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 153. | FNA vol. 12, p. 148. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | O. articulata subsp. rubra, O. rubra | O. variabilis |
Name authority | Savigny: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 4: 686. (1798) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 433. (1753) |
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