Oxalis corniculata |
Oxalis macrantha |
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creeping oxalis, creeping wood-sorrel, creeping yellow wood-sorrel, yellow oxalis, yellow wood sorrel |
Price's wood-sorrel |
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Habit | Herbs annual, caulescent, rhizomes and stolons absent, bulbs absent. | Herbs perennial, caulescent, strongly colonial rhizomes or stolons usually present, bulbs absent. |
Aerial stems | commonly 2–8 from base, prostrate or decumbent, stolonlike, rooting at nodes, 4–10(–30) cm, herbaceous, sparsely and loosely strigose to strigose-villous or villous, hairs nonseptate. |
usually 2–8 from base, erect initially, usually becoming decumbent, 5–20(–40) cm, becoming woody proximally, hirsute-pilose on at least proximal 2/3, hairs curved, loosely and irregularly spreading, nonseptate. |
Leaves | basal and cauline; stipules oblong, membranous, margins with wide, free flanges, apical auricles free; petiole 1–5 cm; leaflets 3, green or bronze-purple to maroon, obcordate, (4–)6–12 mm, lobed 1/5–1/3 length, margins often prominently villous-ciliate, surfaces glabrous, oxalate deposits absent. |
basal and cauline; stipules oblong, margins narrowly flanged or without free portions, apical auricles absent; petiole 2–7 cm; leaflets 3, green, obcordate, 3.5–12 mm, lobed 1/5–1/3 length, surfaces usually strigose-hirsute, sometimes glabrate, oxalate deposits absent. |
Inflorescences | irregular or umbelliform cymes, 1–3(–6)-flowered; peduncles (1–)2–4(–8) cm. |
umbelliform cymes, less commonly irregular cymes, (1–)3–8-flowered; peduncles (3–)5–10(–15) cm. |
Pedicels | villous, hairs long, spreading. |
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Flowers | mostly homostylous; sepal apices without tubercles; petals yellow, 4–8 mm. |
distylous, well above level of leaves; sepal apices without tubercles; petals yellow to yellow-orange, with prominent red lines proximally, (13–)15–20(–23) mm. |
Capsules | angular-cylindric, gradually or abruptly tapering to apex, 8–17(–20) mm, sparsely puberulent to glabrate or glabrous. |
angular-cylindric, abruptly tapering to apex, 10–15 mm, sparsely to densely hirsute-pilose, hairs long, sometimes mostly along angles. |
Seeds | brown, transverse ridges brown. |
brown, transverse ridges usually white. |
2n | = 24, 36, 42, 44, 48. |
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Oxalis corniculata |
Oxalis macrantha |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Aug(–Oct), sporadically year-round. | Flowering Mar–May. |
Habitat | Disturbed areas, gardens, greenhouses, lawns, fields, roadsides, hammocks, beach margins, open pine woods, grasslands. | Dry limestone glades, cedar barrens, chalk prairies, limestone bluffs and outcrops. |
Elevation | 10–500(–2500) m. (0–1600(–8200) ft.) | 100–300 m. (300–1000 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; ID; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; MS; MT; NC; NE; NJ; OH; OK; OR; PA; SC; SD; TX; VA; VT; WA; WV; BC; MB; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Europe, Asia (China, India, Japan), Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia]
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AL; KY; TN; Mexico (Nuevo León) |
Discussion | Oxalis corniculata in the flora area is recognized by a combination of its small flowers (petals yellow, 4–8 mm); sparsely hairy, herbaceous stems creeping and rooting at nodes; and stipules with free flanges and apical auricles. Peduncles and leaves (one to three) are produced at the nodes, short erect stems less commonly so. Specimens have been seen documenting its distribution in the United States as listed above; it may also occur in intervening areas. The typical form of Oxalis corniculata is strictly annual with consistently herbaceous, prostrate stems. At least some populations in western Oregon are distinctly more erect, with decumbent-ascending stems, than those of the eastern United States. In contrast, stems of O. dillenii characteristically are initially erect but may become decumbent to prostrate, occasionally rooting at the nodes; they almost always become more or less woody. Stems arising from nodes of laterally oriented stems characteristically are erect. In most of the United States, O. corniculata usually occurs in urban and highly disturbed habitats, but along the Gulf Coast it occasionally grows in less obviously disturbed sites and might be native there. However, assignment of nativity awaits a clearer understanding of patterns of variation within what is recognized as a highly variable species. Variants of Oxalis corniculata and closely similar forms occur in Mexico, the West Indies, Central America, and South America, as well as in other parts of the world, including the flora area. Plants with bronze-purple to maroon leaves and hairy capsules have been recognized as var. atropurpurea (for example, in Florida, D. B. Ward 2004; in California, L. Abrams and R. S. Ferris 1923–1960, vol. 3). Variety atropurpurea in Malaysia has features of a distinct species, differing from typical O. corniculata in karyotype as well as in floral and vegetative morphology and is isolated by post-pollination reproductive barriers (B. R. Nair and P. Kuriachan 2004). Australasian variants sometimes identified as O. corniculata recently have been treated at specific rank (for example, P. J. de Lange et al. 2005). In view of the significant variation in ploidy level reported for the species, formal recognition of these and probably still other segregates may be justified. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Oxalis macrantha is restricted mostly to limestone glades in Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. It is recognized by its villous to villous-hirsute stems, flowers in umbelliform cymes, and large yellow to yellow-orange corollas with red lines proximally. The lines in the throat remain visible after drying and usually can be seen on herbarium specimens even from the outside of the flower. A similar pattern also occurs in other species, especially O. grandis, O. illinoensis, and O. texana. Seemingly disjunct plants of native habitats in Nuevo León, Mexico, identified as Oxalis macrantha apparently are more common than reported by G. L. Nesom (2009b). Whether these are actually disjunct or a parallel morphological expression derived from some Mexican species needs to be investigated. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 139. | FNA vol. 12, p. 141. |
Parent taxa | Oxalidaceae > Oxalis | Oxalidaceae > Oxalis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | O. corniculata var. atropurpurea, O. corniculata var. domingensis, O. corniculata var. langloisii, O. corniculata var. lupulina, O. corniculata var. macrophylla, O. corniculata var. repens, O. corniculata var. villosa, O. corniculata var. viscidula, O. langloisii, O. repens, Xanthoxalis corniculata, X. langloisii | O. corniculata var. macrantha, O. hirsuticaulis, O. priceae, O. recurva var. macrantha, Xanthoxalis hirsuticaulis, X. macrantha, X. priceae |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 435. (1753) | (Trelease) Small: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 23: 268. (1896) |
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