Re: Yellow Oxalis

Kurt,

Your grandmom's plant cannot be the one here in Florida (the Florida
plant is Oxalis debilis var. corymbosa; formerly known as Oxalis
corymbosa or Oxalis martiana and listed as Oxalis latifolia in The
Jepson Manual). It is a bulbous plant that produces dozens of tiny
bulblets on short stolons at the base of the mother bulb. Everything is
fine if a solitary plant left alone, but disturb the soil in any way and
the little bulblets get spread everywhere!

Your plant sounds like Oxalis rubra. The Jepson Manual describes 3 pink
oxalis that do not form bulbs. Two of them have fleshy rootstocks and
are native species of undisturbed forests. One of them (Oxalis rubra)
has a woody rootstock and is a cultivated ornamental of urban areas. By
process of elimination, it looks as if Oxalis rubra is the one. I hope
this helps!

R. Xavier Osorio
West Palm Beach, Florida
USDA Zone 10
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