Oxalis pes-caprae
Oxalis californica
African wood-sorrel, Bermuda buttercup, soursob
California wood-sorrel, Californica wood sorrel
usually 2–8 from base, erect to ascending, 10–40 cm, becoming woody proximally, glabrous or very sparsely short-puberulent, hairs curved-ascending, nonseptate.
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 oblong, margins narrowly flanged, apical auricles absent;
petiole 3–8 cm, hairs nonseptate;
leaflets 3, gray-green, obcordate, 8–15 mm, lobed 1/5–1/3 length, surfaces sparsely 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(–3)-flowered;
peduncles 2–9 cm.
tristylous in diploids and tetraploids, consistently short-styled in pentaploids;
sepal apices with 2 orange tubercles;
petals deep golden yellow, 15–20 mm.
distylous;
sepal apices without tubercles, surfaces glabrous;
petals yellow, with red lines proximally, 7–11(–13) mm.
not seen.
angular-cylindric, abruptly tapering to apex, 10–15 mm, strigillose, hairs very short, nonseptate.
= 14, 28, 35.
Oxalis pes-caprae
Oxalis californica
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 californica is recognized by its caulescent habit, stems with reduced vestiture (glabrous or very sparsely short-puberulent), one (to three) flowers on long peduncles and pedicels, the yellow corollas often drying with a blue or purplish tinge, and relatively wide, glabrous, and usually purplish or pinkish tinged sepals.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
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Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
