Flora of North America species comparison

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Oxalis trilliifolia

Oxalis hispidula

great oxalis, great wood-sorrel, three leaf woodsorrel, trillium leaf oxalis, trillium-leaf wood-sorrel
Habit Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes present, fleshy-thickened, densely scaly, stolons absent, bulbs absent. Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes and stolons absent, bulbs solitary or clustered; mostly 8–15 mm diam.; outer bulb scales 3[–5]-nerved, inner scales thick, reddish brown, rugose.
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;

petiole 1.5–15 cm, sparsely villous or glabrous;

leaflets 3, green, rounded-obcordate, 4–18 mm, lobed 1/6–1/5 length, lobes apically convex to nearly truncate, margins prominently ciliate, hairs stiff, sharp-pointed, abaxial surface strigose to hirsute-strigose, densely hirsute at very base, adaxial surface glabrous, oxalate deposits absent.
Inflorescences

umbelliform cymes, 2–9(–15)-flowered;

scapes 15–25 cm, glabrous or sparsely villous.

umbelliform cymes, 1(–2)[–4]-flowered;

scapes 3–27 cm, glabrous or sparsely hirsute-villous proximally.
Flowers

heterostylous;

sepal apices without tubercles;

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

apparently tristylous (mid-styled flowers observed);

sepals yellowish green, apices with 2 orange, elongate tubercles;

petals yellow basally, otherwise deep rose to purple or violet, with dark purple veins proximally, 11–20 mm.
Capsules

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

fusiform, mature size not observed, indumentum not seen.

Oxalis trilliifolia

Oxalis hispidula
Phenology Flowering May–Sep. Flowering Oct–Nov.
Habitat Redwood, spruce-fir, Douglas fir, hemlock, hemlock-cedar, hemlock-alder woodlands, stream margins, swamps. Wet ditches, disturbed roadsides.
Elevation 20–1800 m. (100–5900 ft.) 10–90 m. (0–300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; South America (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay) [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Oxalis hispidula is naturalized in Baldwin County (H. E. Horne et al. 2013). The species is recognized by its leaves without oxalate deposits, outer bulb scales with mostly three nerves, flowers one (or two) per scape, and corollas violet-purple with dark veins. It was noted by S. Rosenfeldt and B. G. Galati (2009) to be tristylous.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 147. FNA vol. 12, p. 152.
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. 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. 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
Name authority Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 118. (1831) — (as trilliifolium) Zuccarini: Denkschr. Königl. Akad. Wiss. München 9: 143. (1825)
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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