Yellow Oxalis

FIONA
> Anyone who has battled yellow
> oxalis knows it only too well by that name.

> It's impossible to mistake for anything else.

XAVIER
I live in southern Florida and, when someone in California writes
"yellow oxalis," two things come to mind: Oxalis corniculata and Oxalis
pes-caprae. They have different life cycles and growth forms, and their
eradication requires different strategies. The exact meaning of "yellow
oxalis" is important to me since I battle incessantly with a
pink-flowered, winter-growing, bulbous Oxalis, which is the Florida
ecological equivalent of Oxalis pes-caprae.

When I read on this list recommendations on treating "yellow oxalis," it
does matter whether the writer is talking about Oxalis corniculata
(because then the information probably won't apply to my bulbous pink
Oxalis from hell) or whether the writer is talking about Oxalis
pes-caprae (because then the information probably is applicable).

I know Oxalis pes-caprae is correctly called Bermuda Buttercup (see The
Jepson Manual), but I've visited California twice and NO ONE called it
Bermuda Buttercup. Everyone I asked called it "yellow oxalis." When I
pointed to Oxalis corniculata and asked what that was (although I
already knew), I was informed, "Oh, that's another yellow oxalis." Thus,
I know from experience that when a Californian says "yellow oxalis," one
cannot automatically assume which species of Oxalis he or she is
referring to.

Two more points: The Jepson Manual does not list "yellow oxalis" as the
common name for ANY plant (Oxalis or otherwise) growing in California.
Secondly, isn't this supposed to be an international mail list and not
just a California mail list? Is everyone, everywhere in the world,
expected to know what Californians mean by "yellow oxalis"?

I would not venture so ridiculous a proposal as to suggest that everyone
needs to learn Latin names. However, in the spirit of simple courtesy to
the far-flung members of this list, could writers, when using a common
name, give a brief description of the plant if at all possible? For
example, Fiona's use of the phrase "yellow trumpet shapes" immediately
identified her "yellow oxalis" as Oxalis pes-caprae and not Oxalis
corniculata. Unfortunately, the use of the descriptive phrase allowing
me to unambiguously assign a species to Fiona's "yellow oxalis" appears
to have been inadvertent.

>From other responses to the list that have mentioned both Oxalis
pes-caprae and Oxalis corniculata, it is clear that I am not the only
one confused by the term "yellow oxalis" and that the name is not
unequivocal.

Cheers, R. Xavier Osorio
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