[medit-plants] Re: Lovely Aricle on Ozalis pes-caprae

Hi Sean,

     I am in a constant process of educating the gardeners in my community garden about weeds--with some success. I tell them they do not need to know nearly as much about a weed to control it as they do about a crop to grow it, but they do need to know a little. Jake offered $100 for proof of seeding but there was never a taker that I heard of. 
     I am sure that the oxalis you have with the tight cluster of bulbils is the one I have--or one of the closely related group. I am very interested to hear about jays going after these bulbils. I think you also showed one with an O. pes-caprae bulbil in its beak. Maybe this accounts for some of the surprising spread of sterile O. pes-caprae, though I doubt that a jay would dig up bulbils.  
     The community gardeners tell me that it is hard to dig the clusters of bulbils when a crop plant is growing in nearly the same place. I tell them to at least pull the leaves off and bide their time. 
     Do you have, or have you ever had, a garden with Nothoscardum gracile (or inodorum) in it? I have left notes in botanical gardens to warn gardeners to dig deep and remove all the bulbs. They are about the size of rice grains and when they are ripe, they are dark brown. They are so hard to separate from  rich soil that fhey have sometimes caused me to throw away a handful of soil. The bulbs of a mature plant form very deep in the ground--just below shovel depth.T. The plant grows from seeds too, which form in creamy white flowers that look like they might be a brodaeia,.



On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, 09:32:38 AM PST, Sean A. O'Hara <sean@gimcw.org> wrote:


Thanks Pam.  And thank you for the note about Jake Sigg - I can remember challenging non-believers to produce a seed pod for me as well.  We learn so much from carefully observing the plants around us, be they treasures or pests.

The other Oxalis you mention seems similar to one with a tight cluster of bulbils that we've dealt with.  This species has tried to follow us to our new garden (our former garden apparently was infested with various Oxalis weeds, which we only learned about later!).  The good news is that careful digging of these bulbil clusters does a fairly good job of removing them.  Currently, they are only in potted specimens which makes it easier, but I wonder ...

Jays seem to have learned about these bulbils and I once found a bird 'stealing' some bulbils from the yogurt container in which I had collected some for disposal (while I was weeding elsewhere)!  I now make sure that such receptacles are covered or emptied immediately!!  Don't know if they want to eat them or just try to 'collect' (they have been known to steal bits of sea glass and colorful rocks from our gardens).

Pam Peirce

https://gimcw.org/ (gardening in mediterranean climates worldwide)


On Mon, Jan 6, 2025 at 10:41 PM Pamela K Peirce <p*@att.net> wrote:
Hi Horace and Nan, Sean and others on the Medit-plants list,

I was delighted to read Sean's post on Oxalis pes-caprae. I have been practicing this method of control myself for several years, after I was horrified to dig up roots in spring and witness the many bulblets forming. I have been seeing an improvement in the areas where I have pulled the plants early and often. I certainly didn't want to sift soil for bulbs, and this seems like a much wiser alternative. 
    I was also pleased to hear that a sterile strain is the most prevalent one in the Bay Area. I remember that Jake Sigg, a San Francisco professional gardener, was offering a reward for someone who could prove that the plant made seeds. I don't know that anyone ever did. I certainly have never seen seed. Has anyone taken a photo of a seed pod? I do wonder at the sudden appearance of plants where I didn't think it was possible for there to have been bulblets. 
     In my community garden, we are now fighting a kind of Oxalis that has a very short underground stem, so that single leaves arise from the ground on their long petioles. Left unmanaged, they can cover the ground with leaves. They will grow one or two leaves from a very small bulb, and will develop a tight cluster of round bulblets underground with many leaves aboveground. At least the mature bulblets are not that deep, though I have to use a trowel to remove them from all but the softest soil. I worry that they will break apart when I dig them, though at least they are a slightly more yellow shade of brown than my soil, so I can see them. My research in an effort to learn their species is inconclusive, leading to several possibilities. There seem to be several similar species with pink or white flowers, though I am reluctant to let these bloom even to pin down  the species. Last week, I found some of these plants in my home garden for the first time, so maybe they are becoming more common. Has anyone else been battling this oxalis? 
     In South Africa, where Oxali pes-caprae is native, California poppy is thought a pretty, but rather invasive, weedy, non-native plant. 

Best wishes,

Pam Peirce



     
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index