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Oxalis stricta - (image 1 of 4)

Taxonomy

Family: Oxalidaceae

Habitat

Common in disturbed and natural habitats.

Associates

 Distribution

Cosmopolitan.

Morphology

Perennial from long, slender rhizomes, prostrate to more often erect; stems to 50 cm, pubescent with spreading, blunt-tipped, septate hairs, sometimes also strigose, rarely glabrous; stipules none; leaflets 1-2 cm wide, usually glabrous to merely ciliate; peduncles usually exceeding the flowers, bearing 2-7 flowers; petals 4-9 mm, yellow (cream); fruit 8-15 mm, with spreading, flexuous, septate hairs.

Notes

Flowers June to September

Wetland indicator: FACU

Flowers are normally bright yellow. Oxalis dillenii Jacq. is similar but with the hairs of the stem and petioles pointed, nonseptate, and usually appressed. It also have leaves with stipules.

References

Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.

The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY

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