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

Price's wood-sorrel

Habit Herbs perennial, acaulous, rhizomes present, fleshy-thickened, densely scaly, stolons absent, bulbs absent. Herbs perennial, caulescent, strongly colonial rhizomes or stolons usually present, bulbs absent.
Aerial stems

usually 2–8 from base, erect initially, usually becoming decumbent, 5–20(–40) cm, becoming woody proximally, hirsute-pilose on at least proximal 2/3, hairs curved, loosely and irregularly spreading, nonseptate.

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 and cauline;

stipules oblong, margins narrowly flanged or without free portions, apical auricles absent;

petiole 2–7 cm;

leaflets 3, green, obcordate, 3.5–12 mm, lobed 1/5–1/3 length, surfaces usually strigose-hirsute, sometimes glabrate, oxalate deposits absent.

Inflorescences

umbelliform cymes, 2–9(–15)-flowered;

scapes 15–25 cm, glabrous or sparsely villous.

umbelliform cymes, less commonly irregular cymes, (1–)3–8-flowered;

peduncles (3–)5–10(–15) cm.

Pedicels

villous, hairs long, spreading.

Flowers

heterostylous;

sepal apices without tubercles;

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

distylous, well above level of leaves;

sepal apices without tubercles;

petals yellow to yellow-orange, with prominent red lines proximally, (13–)15–20(–23) mm.

Capsules

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

angular-cylindric, abruptly tapering to apex, 10–15 mm, sparsely to densely hirsute-pilose, hairs long, sometimes mostly along angles.

Seeds

brown, transverse ridges usually white.

Oxalis trilliifolia

Oxalis macrantha

Phenology Flowering May–Sep. Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Redwood, spruce-fir, Douglas fir, hemlock, hemlock-cedar, hemlock-alder woodlands, stream margins, swamps. Dry limestone glades, cedar barrens, chalk prairies, limestone bluffs and outcrops.
Elevation 20–1800 m. (100–5900 ft.) 100–300 m. (300–1000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; KY; TN; Mexico (Nuevo León)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Oxalis macrantha is restricted mostly to limestone glades in Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. It is recognized by its villous to villous-hirsute stems, flowers in umbelliform cymes, and large yellow to yellow-orange corollas with red lines proximally. The lines in the throat remain visible after drying and usually can be seen on herbarium specimens even from the outside of the flower. A similar pattern also occurs in other species, especially O. grandis, O. illinoensis, and O. texana.

Seemingly disjunct plants of native habitats in Nuevo León, Mexico, identified as Oxalis macrantha apparently are more common than reported by G. L. Nesom (2009b). Whether these are actually disjunct or a parallel morphological expression derived from some Mexican species needs to be investigated.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 12, p. 147. FNA vol. 12, p. 141.
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. incarnata, O. intermedia, O. latifolia, O. laxa, 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. corniculata var. macrantha, O. hirsuticaulis, O. priceae, O. recurva var. macrantha, Xanthoxalis hirsuticaulis, X. macrantha, X. priceae
Name authority Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 118. (1831) — (as trilliifolium) (Trelease) Small: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 23: 268. (1896)
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