Oxalis metcalfei |
Oxalis intermedia |
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Metcalfe's wood-sorrel |
West Indian wood-sorrel |
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Habit | Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes and stolons absent, bulb 5–10 mm, usually surrounded by dense cluster of bulblets, 3–4 mm (sometimes obscuring bulb); bulb scales 3-nerved. | Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes absent, stolons often present, numerous, slender, with bulblets at tips, bulbs usually clustered, sometimes solitary; bulb scales (3–)5–7-nerved. |
Leaves | basal; petiole 7–15 cm; leaflets 3, green, obtriangular-obcordate, 11–25 mm, lobed 1/6–1/3 length, lobes apically rounded to shallowly convex, surfaces glabrous, oxalate deposits usually in narrow band 0.5–1.5 mm along margins at base of notch, sometimes evident on one surface but not other, rarely absent. |
basal, rarely absent at flowering; petiole 10–22 cm; leaflets 3, green, obtriangular to broadly obtriangular, 20–50 mm, lobed 1/5–1/3 length, lobes apically truncate, surfaces glabrous, oxalate deposits absent. |
Inflorescences | umbelliform cymes, 3–7-flowered; scapes 7–22 cm, glabrous. |
umbelliform cymes, 3–12(–18)-flowered; scapes 7–30 cm, glabrous or sparsely hairy. |
Flowers | tristylous and distylous; sepal apices with 2 orange, narrow-elongate, nonconfluent tubercles; petals white to pale green proximally with green veins, purplish to lavender or pink distally, (9–)12–16 mm. |
semihomostylous; sepal apices with 2 orange tubercles; petals usually lavender to purple, less commonly pink or white, 8–12 mm. |
Capsules | cylindric, 6 mm, glabrous. |
ellipsoid, 3–8 mm, glabrous. |
2n | = 28, 42. |
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Oxalis metcalfei |
Oxalis intermedia |
|
Phenology | Flowering (Jun–)Jul–Sep(–Oct). | Flowering Apr–Sep. |
Habitat | Stream banks, wet meadows, canyon bottoms, talus, rocky banks, crevices, juniper-chaparral, Cercocarpus, pine, yellow pine-Douglas fir-oak, Douglas fir-aspen, pine-white fir-Douglas fir, spruce-fir, or spruce woodlands. | Gardens, fields, orchards, roadsides, moist waste areas, fencerows. |
Elevation | 1800–3100(–3400) m. (5900–10200(–11200) ft.) | 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango, Sonora, Zacatecas) |
FL; LA; TX; West Indies [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico (Chiapas, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz)] |
Discussion | Oxalis metcalfei has mostly been identified as O. alpina (Rose) Rose ex R. Knuth, but the latter is a species of south-central Mexico, far from the populations in northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Oxalis alpina has leaflets with dotlike oxalate deposits scattered throughout the lamina, concentrated near margins, or as continuous, filiform marginal bands around the lobe apices; the corollas usually are white. Oxalis metcalfei is consistently different in the nature of its foliar oxalate deposits and the corollas usually are purplish to lavender or pink. Plants with chromosome numbers of 2n = 28 are found in both Arizona and New Mexico; those with 2n = 42 are found only in New Mexico (S. C. Weller and M. F. Denton 1976). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Oxalis intermedia is recognized by a combination of its large, obtriangular leaflets; numerous, small flowers; and usually clustered bulbs. It was collected in California in 1934 and Massachusetts in 1940 but does not appear to have become naturalized in either state. Plants in the flora area are usually without fertile fruit. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 149. | FNA vol. 12, p. 151. |
Parent taxa | Oxalidaceae > Oxalis | Oxalidaceae > Oxalis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Ionoxalis metcalfei, I. monticola, O. bulbosa, O. neomexicana | Ionoxalis intermedia |
Name authority | (Small) R. Knuth: Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 7: 314. (1919) | A. Richard: Hist. Phys. Cuba, Pl. Vasc., 315. (1841) |
Web links |