Oxalis pes-caprae |
Oxalis oregana |
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African wood-sorrel, Bermuda buttercup, soursob |
Oregon oxalis, Oregon wood-sorrel, red wood-sorrel |
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Habit | Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes present vertical, white, rootlike, stolons absent, bulb usually solitary, sometimes with bulblets at base; bulb scales not observed. | Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes present, fleshy-thickened, densely scaly, stolons absent, bulbs absent. |
Leaves | 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, clustered at rhizome tips; petiole 5–15(–21) cm, sparsely to densely villous, hairs rusty; leaflets 3, green, broadly obcordate, 10–30(–40) mm, lobed 1/5–1/4 length, lobes apically convex, surfaces sparsely villous, oxalate deposits absent. |
Inflorescences | umbelliform cymes, 2–12(–20)-flowered; scapes often becoming fistulose proximally, 15–30 cm, sparsely villous to pilose. |
1-flowered; scapes (6–)11–25 cm, glabrous or sparsely villous. |
Flowers | 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 white to deep pink, usually with yellow spot sub-basally and prominent purple veins, (8–)15–25 mm. |
Capsules | not seen. |
ovoid, 6–8(–12) mm, glabrate. |
2n | = 14, 28, 35. |
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Oxalis pes-caprae |
Oxalis oregana |
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Phenology | Flowering Nov–Apr. | Flowering Feb–Sep. |
Habitat | Disturbed areas, orchards, fields, grasslands, oak woodlands, coastal sage, dunes. | Douglas fir, mixed fir, cedar-spruce, mixed conifer, and hemlock-maple forests, maple woodlands, alder glens, Gaultheria thickets, stream banks. |
Elevation | 10–500 m. (0–1600 ft.) | 10–800(–1000) m. (0–2600(–3300) ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; s Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in West Indies, Bermuda, South America, Europe, Asia (China, Iran, Turkey), n Africa, Australia]
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CA; OR; WA; BC
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Discussion | 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 oregana has sometimes been treated as a disjunct geographical taxon of the European O. acetosella Linnaeus (see comments under 21. O. montana). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 146. | FNA vol. 12, p. 148. |
Parent taxa | Oxalidaceae > Oxalis | Oxalidaceae > Oxalis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | O. cernua | O. acetosella subsp. oregana, O. oregana var. smalliana, O. oregana var. tracyi, O. smalliana |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 434. (1753) | Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 211. (1838) |
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