Oxalis pes-caprae
Oxalis albicans
African wood-sorrel, Bermuda buttercup, soursob
radish-root wood-sorrel, western yellow wood-sorrel
usually 2–8 from base, usually decumbent to prostrate, less commonly ascending, sporadically rooting at nodes, 10–40 cm, becoming woody proximally, puberulent to hirtellous-puberulent, hairs usually antrorsely curved or crisped, sometimes ± straight, nonseptate, longer hairs 0.2–0.3(–0.8) mm.
basal, rarely absent at flowering;
petiole 3–12 cm;
leaflets 3, green, rarely mottled with purplish red spots, angular-obcordate, (5–)7–20 mm, lobed 1/4–2/5 length, lobes apically convex, margins and abaxial surface villous, adaxial surface glabrous, oxalate deposits absent.
basal and cauline;
stipules rudimentary or oblong, margins narrowly flanged, apical auricles absent;
petiole (1–)3–7(–10) cm, hairs nonseptate;
leaflets 3, glaucous and gray-green to yellowish green, obcordate, 5–10(–15) mm, lobed 1/5–1/3 length, surfaces glabrous to loosely strigose, oxalate deposits absent.
umbelliform cymes, 2–12(–20)-flowered;
scapes often becoming fistulose proximally, 15–30 cm, sparsely villous to pilose.
umbelliform cymes, 1–2(–3)-flowered;
peduncles 1.5–5 cm.
tristylous in diploids and tetraploids, consistently short-styled in pentaploids;
sepal apices with 2 orange tubercles;
petals deep golden yellow, 15–20 mm.
semihomostylous, within level of leaves;
sepal apices without tubercles, surfaces strigose to hirsute-strigose;
petals yellow, rarely with red lines proximally, 6–10(–12) mm.
not seen.
angular-cylindric, abruptly tapering to apex, 14–20 mm, strigose-hirsute.
brown to blackish brown, transverse ridges rarely with whitish lines or spots.
= 14, 28, 35.
Oxalis pes-caprae
Oxalis albicans
Outside its native range, Oxalis pes-caprae is mostly represented by a sterile pentaploid morph, although tetraploids also are known. The occurrence of both pentaploid and tetraploid individuals in the exotic range may be the result of independent introductions (P. Michael 1964; R. Ornduff 1986). Fruit production has not been observed in North America, and the plants are assumed to be seed-sterile (Ornduff 1987). Bulbs of O. pes-caprae are rarely collected, as they detach easily from the vertical, rootlike stems. Each bulb may produce over 20, small, whitish bulblets each year. Bulblets may also be formed at the soil surface crown.
Oxalis pes-caprae was reported by J. K. Small (1933) to occur in waste places and cultivated grounds in northern Florida, but as noted by D. B. Ward (2004), no Florida specimens are known.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
