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Waxing Eloquent with Oxalis


i personally dont mind them at all. Then again i dont keep nice neat
gardens ( i just let whatever wants to grow). I like the flowers, and i
like the faint scent they have :). Plus it reminds me of my childhood
when we called it Lemon ( or sour) grass.

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Yes, Oxalis pres-caprae (Bermuda Buttercup) brings back so many memories
for me, too. We also called it sourgrass and chewed on the long stems
topped with slender yellow bells, and my 13-year-old son carries on the
tradition whenever he goes out in back to read "Watership Down" to the
rabbits. Now I know, however, that oxalis "juice" contains oxalic acid,
which can interfere with calcium absorption. (Still, it ranks as a better
snack than the road tar we also liked as kids!)

But I have two more Oxalis species I'd like to ask about. A friend gave
me some gallon-can pin oaks (they turned out to be scarlet oaks,
actually) with a lovely oxalis growing as companion plants. The
trifoliate leaves on pink stems are medium green, lush and overlapping, a
full two inches across; the flowers, furled at night like tiny inch-long
umbrellas, are a creamy light green at the base and a lavender-pink at
the tip, and they appear spring and fall. (I've planted them in a
woodland setting with sword ferns.) Could this Oxalis be O. oregana, AKA
redwood sorrel or Oregon oxalis?

The second Oxalis that interests me I keep as a container plant, letting
it go dormant in the summer. You can sometimes buy it this time of year
for St. Patrick's Day, though you won't be "wearing the green." The
leaves are a deep wine purple, while the flowers are fluted rosy pink
bells that appear in delicate clusters. It's sold as Oxalis triangulata,
but I think it could also be the O. purpurea 'Grand Duchess' described in
the Sunset Western Garden Book. It also seems to me that I've seen this
purple oxalis noted as a native of Brazil. 

Does anyone out there by some chance know about these two Oxalis species?

Thanks.

Victoria
Benicia, CA (near San Francisco)

junglemania@juno.com

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