Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Oxalis laxa

Oxalis illinoensis

dwarf wood-sorrel

Illinois wood-sorrel
Habit Herbs annual, caulescent, sometimes densely cespitose, rhizomes and stolons absent, bulbs absent. Herbs perennial, caulescent, rhizomes present, with horizontal, white, fusiform tubers or tuberlike thickenings, stolons absent, bulbs absent.
Aerial stems

1–5 from base, erect, 0.5–7 cm, usually herbaceous, sometimes becoming ± woody proximally, hirtellous to villous-hirtellous.

1(–3) from base, erect, 15–40 cm, herbaceous, glabrate to sparsely to densely villous, hairs ± straight, spreading, septate and nonseptate.
Leaves

cauline;

stipules rudimentary;

petiole 1.5–6 cm;

leaflets 3, green, obcordate, 5–12 mm, lobed 1/5 length, lobes apically convex, surfaces glabrous, oxalate deposits absent.

cauline;

stipules rudimentary;

petiole 4–7.5 cm, hairs septate and nonseptate;

leaflets 3, green, obcordate, (12–)20–30(–35) mm, lobed 1/5 length, lobes apically truncate, margins green, ciliate, surfaces glabrous, oxalate deposits absent.
Inflorescences

racemes, 6–14-flowered;

peduncles 3–15 cm.

regular or irregular cymes, 1–3(–6)-flowered;

peduncles 3–10 cm.
Flowers

heterostylous;

sepal apices without tubercles;

petals yellow, 6–12 mm.

tristylous, mostly at level of leaves;

sepal apices without tubercles;

petals yellow, with prominent red lines proximally, 12–18 mm.
Capsules

ovoid to spheric, 3–5 mm, puberulent.

oblong-ovoid, 7–10 mm, sparsely puberulent to villous.
Seeds

brown, transverse ridges brown.

Oxalis laxa

Oxalis illinoensis
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun. Flowering Apr–Sep.
Habitat Disturbed sites, riparian woodlands, riverbanks, gravelly beaches, rock crevices, foothill woodlands. Slopes, bluffs, ravines, flood plains, mesic forests, sometimes forming dominant ground cover, commonly on limestone, shale, or calcareous loess.
Elevation 10–800 m. (0–2600 ft.) 200–500 m. (700–1600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; South America (Chile) [Introduced in North America]
from FNA
IL; IN; KY; TN
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Oxalis laxa is widespread in California in the eastern part of the Central Valley and along the central coast.

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

Differences between Oxalis illinoensis and O. grandis are subtle, but they appear to be correlated with geography. Oxalis illinoensis occupies the western part of the range of O. grandis in the wide sense. The tuberous portions of the rhizomes of O. illinoensis are diagnostic, but they are commonly broken off during collection. M. E. Medley (1993) observed that the two taxa intergrade, and a hybrid population has been identified in Indiana (A. L. Heikens 2003).

Oxalis illinoensis is listed as threatened in Illinois and rare in Indiana.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 145. FNA vol. 12, p. 145.
Parent taxa Oxalidaceae > Oxalis Oxalidaceae > Oxalis
Sibling taxa
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. 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. 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
Synonyms O. corniculata var. sericea, O. micrantha, O. radicosa, O. simulans
Name authority Hooker & Arnott: Bot. Beechey Voy., 13. (1830) Schwegman: Phytologia 50: 467. (1982)
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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers