FNA: Oxalis laxa vs. Oxalis trilliifolia

	Oxalis laxa	Oxalis trilliifolia
	dwarf wood-sorrel	great oxalis, great wood-sorrel, three leaf woodsorrel, trillium leaf oxalis, trillium-leaf wood-sorrel
Habit	Herbs annual, caulescent, sometimes densely cespitose, rhizomes and stolons absent, bulbs absent.	Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes present, fleshy-thickened, densely scaly, 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.
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, clustered at rhizome tips; petiole 15–30 cm; leaflets 3, green, broadly obcordate, 20–40(–60) mm, lobed 1/6–1/4 length, lobes apically convex, surfaces sparsely villous, oxalate deposits absent.
Inflorescences	racemes, 6–14-flowered; peduncles 3–15 cm.	umbelliform cymes, 2–9(–15)-flowered; scapes 15–25 cm, glabrous or sparsely villous.
Flowers	heterostylous; sepal apices without tubercles; petals yellow, 6–12 mm.	heterostylous; sepal apices without tubercles; petals white to pinkish, sometimes greenish proximally, without prominent veins, 8–14 mm.
Capsules	ovoid to spheric, 3–5 mm, puberulent.	narrowly fusiform, 15–25(–30) mm, glabrous.

	Oxalis laxa	Oxalis trilliifolia
Phenology	Flowering Apr–Jun.	Flowering May–Sep.
Habitat	Disturbed sites, riparian woodlands, riverbanks, gravelly beaches, rock crevices, foothill woodlands.	Redwood, spruce-fir, Douglas fir, hemlock, hemlock-cedar, hemlock-alder woodlands, stream margins, swamps.
Elevation	10–800 m. (0–2600 ft.)	20–1800 m. (100–5900 ft.)
Distribution	CA; South America (Chile) [Introduced in North America]	CA; ID; OR; WA [WildflowerSearch map] [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.)
Source	FNA vol. 12, p. 145.	FNA vol. 12, p. 147.
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. 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. violacea
Synonyms	O. corniculata var. sericea, O. micrantha, O. radicosa, O. simulans	Hesperoxalis trilliifolia
Name authority	Hooker & Arnott: Bot. Beechey Voy., 13. (1830)	Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 118. (1831) — (as trilliifolium)
Web links	Local floras: CA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Oxalis laxa

Oxalis trilliifolia

dwarf wood-sorrel

great oxalis, great wood-sorrel, three leaf woodsorrel, trillium leaf oxalis, trillium-leaf wood-sorrel

Habit

Herbs annual, caulescent, sometimes densely cespitose, rhizomes and stolons absent, bulbs absent.

Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes present, fleshy-thickened, densely scaly, 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.

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, clustered at rhizome tips;

petiole 15–30 cm;

leaflets 3, green, broadly obcordate, 20–40(–60) mm, lobed 1/6–1/4 length, lobes apically convex, surfaces sparsely villous, oxalate deposits absent.

Inflorescences

racemes, 6–14-flowered;

peduncles 3–15 cm.

umbelliform cymes, 2–9(–15)-flowered;

scapes 15–25 cm, glabrous or sparsely villous.

Flowers

heterostylous;

sepal apices without tubercles;

petals yellow, 6–12 mm.

heterostylous;

sepal apices without tubercles;

petals white to pinkish, sometimes greenish proximally, without prominent veins, 8–14 mm.

Capsules

ovoid to spheric, 3–5 mm, puberulent.

narrowly fusiform, 15–25(–30) mm, glabrous.

Oxalis laxa

Oxalis trilliifolia

Phenology

Flowering Apr–Jun.

Flowering May–Sep.

Habitat

Disturbed sites, riparian woodlands, riverbanks, gravelly beaches, rock crevices, foothill woodlands.

Redwood, spruce-fir, Douglas fir, hemlock, hemlock-cedar, hemlock-alder woodlands, stream margins, swamps.

Elevation

10–800 m. (0–2600 ft.)

20–1800 m. (100–5900 ft.)

Distribution

CA; South America (Chile) [Introduced in North America]

CA; ID; OR; WA

[WildflowerSearch map]

[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.)

Source

FNA vol. 12, p. 145.

FNA vol. 12, p. 147.

Parent taxa

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. 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. violacea

Synonyms

O. corniculata var. sericea, O. micrantha, O. radicosa, O. simulans

Hesperoxalis trilliifolia

Name authority

Hooker & Arnott: Bot. Beechey Voy., 13. (1830)

Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 118. (1831) — (as trilliifolium)

Web links

Local floras: CA, OR, WA
Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog.
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database
LBJ Wildflower Center
SEINet
Plants of the World Online
Encyclopedia of Life
Wikipedia
Google Image Search

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).

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

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Flora of North America species comparison

Oxalis laxa

Oxalis trilliifolia

Oxalis laxa

Oxalis trilliifolia