Oxalis pes-caprae
Oxalis bowiei
African wood-sorrel, Bermuda buttercup, soursob
bowie's wood-sorrel, red-flower wood-sorrel
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, rarely absent at flowering;
petiole (4–)6–16 cm, densely glandular-puberulent;
leaflets 3, green to purplish abaxially, green adaxially, obcordate, (12–)30–60 mm, lobed 1/6–1/3 length, lobes apically convex, often fleshy, surfaces densely glandular-puberulent, oxalate deposits absent.
umbelliform cymes, 2–12(–20)-flowered;
scapes often becoming fistulose proximally, 15–30 cm, sparsely villous to pilose.
umbelliform cymes, 4–12-flowered;
scapes 15–20 cm, densely glandular-puberulent.
tristylous in diploids and tetraploids, consistently short-styled in pentaploids;
sepal apices with 2 orange tubercles;
petals deep golden yellow, 15–20 mm.
heterostylous;
sepal apices without tubercles;
petals greenish yellow basally, pink to deep rose pink or red distally, 15–20 mm.
not seen.
not seen.
= 14, 28, 35.
Oxalis pes-caprae
Oxalis bowiei
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.)
Oxalis bowiei is a naturalized garden escape in Oroville (Butte County; V. H. Oswald and L. Ahart 1994). Oxalis bowiei Aiton ex G. Don, from the Cape of Good Hope, was described as hoary-pubescent with peduncles about equal in length to the leaves and with red flowers. It perhaps is not the same species as O. bowiei Herbert (1833), provenance unspecified, but the color illustration clearly shows the commonly cultivated plant of contemporary commerce. Apparently neither name has been typified.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
