Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Oxalis suksdorfii

Oxalis brasiliensis

Suksdorf woodsorrel, Suksdorf's oxalis, Suksdorf's wood-sorrel, western yellow oxalis, western yellow wood-sorrel

Brazilian wood-sorrel
Habit Herbs perennial, caulescent, rhizomes present long, stolons absent, bulbs absent. Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes and stolons absent, bulb solitary or clustered, 5–20 × 5–17 mm; outer bulb scales 5–8[–13]-nerved, margins ciliate, inner scales thick, orangish.
Aerial stems

1(–3) from base, mostly erect, 10–25 cm, herbaceous, sparsely to moderately villous, hairs nonseptate and usually septate.

Leaves

cauline;

stipules rudimentary;

petiole (2–)3–5(–6) cm, hairs septate and nonseptate;

leaflets 3, green, obcordate, (8–)10–16(–20) mm, lobed 1/5–1/3 length, margins green, surfaces glabrous to sparsely strigose, oxalate deposits absent.

basal;

petiole often purplish proximally, 3–13[–20] cm, glabrous [sparsely and finely strigose];

leaflets 3, light green, obdeltate with rounded angles, [2–]10–21[–32] mm, lobed 1/10–1/20 length, lobes apically shallowly convex to nearly truncate, margins glabrous or sparsely irregularly ciliate, hairs loose, fine, abaxial surface sparsely but evenly strigose, adaxial surface glabrous, oxalate deposits absent.
Inflorescences

umbelliform cymes, 1–3-flowered;

peduncles (2–)4–8(–10) cm.

umbelliform cymes, 1(–2)[–5]-flowered;

scapes 14–17[–30] cm, glabrous.
Flowers

tristylous, above level of leaves;

sepal apices without tubercles;

petals yellow, 12–20 mm.

apparently tristylous (mid-styled flowers observed);

sepals purplish, apices without tubercles, surfaces glabrous;

petals violet-purple, with dark purple veins proximally, 18–20 mm.
Capsules

oblong-cylindric, 10–15 mm, densely puberulent.

narrowly cylindric, 15–22 mm, indumentum not seen.
2n

= 24.

Oxalis suksdorfii

Oxalis brasiliensis
Phenology Flowering May–Aug. Flowering Mar–Jul.
Habitat Open woods, fir, Douglas fir-oak woodlands, dry shrublands, roadsides, disturbed areas. Disturbed roadsides.
Elevation 0–700 m. (0–2300 ft.) 30–50 m. (100–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; South America (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in e Asia (Japan), Australia]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Oxalis brasiliensis is naturalized in Dallas County (H. E. Horne et al. 2013). The species is recognized by its leaves without oxalate deposits and sepals without tubercles; outer bulb scales with five to eight (to 13) nerves; one or two (or three) flowers per scape; and violet-purple, dark purple-veined corollas. The large, showy flowers make this species popular in the horticultural trade (see http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/SouthAmericanOxalis#brasiliensis for additional horticultural information on the species). Growth habit in the Dallas County population ranged from small clumps to dense mats along the roadside, extending to the margin of the woodland.

A low percentage of the Dallas County Oxalis brasiliensis population was reproducing by tiny propagules produced at the bract region of the scape. These propagules apparently are highly foreshortened stems, as they produce whorls of small leaves; they do not produce scales and thus are not the so-called aerial bulbils, as in the miniature bulbs described in some South African species (see http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/SouthAfricanOxalis).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 145. FNA vol. 12, p. 153.
Parent taxa Oxalidaceae > Oxalis Oxalidaceae > Oxalis
Sibling taxa
O. albicans, O. articulata, O. bowiei, O. brasiliensis, O. caerulea, O. californica, O. colorea, O. corniculata, O. debilis, O. decaphylla, O. dichondrifolia, O. dillenii, O. drummondii, O. florida, O. frutescens, O. grandis, O. hirta, O. hispidula, O. illinoensis, O. incarnata, O. intermedia, O. latifolia, O. laxa, O. macrantha, O. metcalfei, O. montana, O. oregana, O. pes-caprae, O. pilosa, O. purpurea, O. stricta, O. texana, O. triangularis, O. trilliifolia, O. violacea
O. albicans, O. articulata, O. bowiei, O. caerulea, O. californica, O. colorea, O. corniculata, O. debilis, O. decaphylla, O. dichondrifolia, O. dillenii, O. drummondii, O. florida, O. frutescens, O. grandis, O. hirta, O. hispidula, O. illinoensis, O. incarnata, O. intermedia, O. latifolia, O. laxa, O. macrantha, O. metcalfei, O. montana, O. oregana, O. pes-caprae, O. pilosa, O. purpurea, O. stricta, O. suksdorfii, O. texana, O. triangularis, O. trilliifolia, O. violacea
Synonyms Xanthoxalis suksdorfii
Name authority Trelease: Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 4: 89. (1888) Loddiges et al. ex Hildebrand: Lebensverh. Oxalis., 43. (1884)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers