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 trilliifolia

Oxalis incarnata

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

crimson wood-sorrel, pale pink-sorrel
Habit Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes present, fleshy-thickened, densely scaly, stolons absent, bulbs absent. Herbs perennial, caulescent, rhizomes present, 3–8 cm, slender, sometimes producing small tubers, stolons absent, bulblets often present on rhizomes and in leaf axils.
Aerial stems

mostly 1–4 from base, mostly erect, 5–25 cm, herbaceous, glabrous.
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.

cauline, usually in pseudowhorls of 4–8, sometimes opposite proximally;

stipules rudimentary;

petiole 2–5(–7) cm;

leaflets 3, green, sometimes purplish abaxially, obcordate, 6–10(–15) mm, lobed 1/4 length, lobes apically convex, surfaces glabrous, oxalate deposits absent.
Inflorescences

umbelliform cymes, 2–9(–15)-flowered;

scapes 15–25 cm, glabrous or sparsely villous.

1-flowered;

peduncles 5–7 cm.
Flowers

heterostylous;

sepal apices without tubercles;

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

stamen/style arrangement not seen;

sepal apices with 2 orange tubercles;

petals white to pale pinkish purple with darker veins, 10–20 mm.
Capsules

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

not seen.

Oxalis trilliifolia

Oxalis incarnata
Phenology Flowering May–Sep. Flowering Jan–May.
Habitat Redwood, spruce-fir, Douglas fir, hemlock, hemlock-cedar, hemlock-alder woodlands, stream margins, swamps. Shady, disturbed, generally urban sites, greenhouses, roadsides, yards.
Elevation 20–1800 m. (100–5900 ft.) 0–200 m. (0–700 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, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Oxalis incarnata is recognized by its rhizomatous habit, small leaves in pseudowhorls, and large, solitary, flowers with white to pink or purple petals. Plants apparently are seed-sterile in California.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 147. FNA vol. 12, p. 146.
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. hispidula, O. illinoensis, 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) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 433. (1753)
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