Oxalis pes-caprae
Oxalis drummondii
African wood-sorrel, Bermuda buttercup, soursob
Drummond's 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;
petiole 5–16 cm;
leaflets 3, green, sometimes with red splotches in irregular medial band adaxially, obtriangular to obcordate, (6–)14–34 mm, lobed 1/4–4/5 length, lobes apically convex to nearly truncate, surfaces glabrous, oxalate deposits absent.
umbelliform cymes, 2–12(–20)-flowered;
scapes often becoming fistulose proximally, 15–30 cm, sparsely villous to pilose.
umbelliform cymes, 3–10-flowered;
scapes (7–)11–23 cm, glabrous.
tristylous in diploids and tetraploids, consistently short-styled in pentaploids;
sepal apices with 2 orange tubercles;
petals deep golden yellow, 15–20 mm.
distylous or rarely homostylous;
sepal apices with 2(–6) orange, linear, thickened, apically confluent tubercles;
petals white to pale green proximally with green veins, pink to violet or purple-violet distally, (8–)15–23 mm.
not seen.
cylindric, 4–12 mm, hairy.
= 14, 28, 35.
= 14.
Oxalis pes-caprae
Oxalis drummondii
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 drummondii is found in the flora area in central and southern Texas. Reports of this species from Arizona, New Mexico, and trans-Pecos Texas are based on misidentifications of O. latifolia and O. metcalfei.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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Flora NW
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WildflowerSearch
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