Oxalis laxa |
Oxalis macrantha |
|
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dwarf wood-sorrel |
Price's wood-sorrel |
|
Habit | Herbs annual, caulescent, sometimes densely cespitose, rhizomes and stolons absent, bulbs absent. | Herbs perennial, caulescent, strongly colonial rhizomes or stolons usually present, bulbs absent. |
Aerial stems | 1–5 from base, erect, 0.5–7 cm, usually herbaceous, sometimes becoming ± woody proximally, hirtellous to villous-hirtellous. |
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 | 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. |
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 | racemes, 6–14-flowered; peduncles 3–15 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 | heterostylous; sepal apices without tubercles; petals yellow, 6–12 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 | ovoid to spheric, 3–5 mm, puberulent. |
angular-cylindric, abruptly tapering to apex, 10–15 mm, sparsely to densely hirsute-pilose, hairs long, sometimes mostly along angles. |
Seeds | brown, transverse ridges usually white. |
|
Oxalis laxa |
Oxalis macrantha |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Mar–May. |
Habitat | Disturbed sites, riparian woodlands, riverbanks, gravelly beaches, rock crevices, foothill woodlands. | Dry limestone glades, cedar barrens, chalk prairies, limestone bluffs and outcrops. |
Elevation | 10–800 m. [30–2600 ft.] | 100–300 m. [300–1000 ft.] |
Distribution |
CA; South America (Chile) [Introduced in North America] |
AL; KY; TN; Mexico (Nuevo León) |
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.) |
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. 145. | FNA vol. 12, p. 141. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | O. corniculata var. sericea, O. micrantha, O. radicosa, O. simulans | O. corniculata var. macrantha, O. hirsuticaulis, O. priceae, O. recurva var. macrantha, Xanthoxalis hirsuticaulis, X. macrantha, X. priceae |
Name authority | Hooker & Arnott: Bot. Beechey Voy., 13. (1830) | (Trelease) Small: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 23: 268. (1896) |
Web links |