Flora of North America species comparison

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Oxalis trilliifolia

Oxalis bowiei

great oxalis, great wood-sorrel, three leaf woodsorrel, trillium leaf oxalis, trillium-leaf wood-sorrel

bowie's wood-sorrel, red-flower wood-sorrel
Habit Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes present, fleshy-thickened, densely scaly, stolons absent, bulbs absent. Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes present vertical, slender or thickened, sparsely scaly, stolons absent, bulbs solitary, ovate, 2–4 cm; bulb scales 5-nerved.
Leaves

basal, clustered at rhizome tips;

petiole 15–30 cm;

leaflets 3, green, broadly obcordate, 20–40(–60) mm, lobed 1/6–1/4 length, lobes apically convex, surfaces sparsely villous, 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.
Inflorescences

umbelliform cymes, 2–9(–15)-flowered;

scapes 15–25 cm, glabrous or sparsely villous.

umbelliform cymes, 4–12-flowered;

scapes 15–20 cm, densely glandular-puberulent.
Flowers

heterostylous;

sepal apices without tubercles;

petals white to pinkish, sometimes greenish proximally, without prominent veins, 8–14 mm.

heterostylous;

sepal apices without tubercles;

petals greenish yellow basally, pink to deep rose pink or red distally, 15–20 mm.
Capsules

narrowly fusiform, 15–25(–30) mm, glabrous.

not seen.

Oxalis trilliifolia

Oxalis bowiei
Phenology Flowering May–Sep. Flowering Oct–Dec, Apr–Jun.
Habitat Redwood, spruce-fir, Douglas fir, hemlock, hemlock-cedar, hemlock-alder woodlands, stream margins, swamps. Disturbed areas.
Elevation 20–1800 m. (100–5900 ft.) 300 m. (1000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Africa (South Africa) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Europe, Asia (China), Australia]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 147. FNA vol. 12, p. 148.
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. suksdorfii, O. texana, O. triangularis, O. violacea
O. albicans, O. articulata, 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. suksdorfii, O. texana, O. triangularis, O. trilliifolia, O. violacea
Synonyms Hesperoxalis trilliifolia O. purpurata var. bowiei
Name authority Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 118. (1831) — (as trilliifolium) Aiten ex G. Don: Gen. Hist. 1: 761. (1831) — (as bowii)
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).



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