Oxalis L.

Herbs, annual or perennial, sometimes with rhizomes or bulbs. Leaves digitately or pinnately 3 - 4-foliolate; stipules when present adnate to base of petiole. Peduncles basal from bulbs or solitary and axillary. Inflorescence cymose or umbellate, 1 to many-flowered; bracteoles 2 to several, sometimes with apical calli; pedicels articulate at base and sometimes beneath calyx. Sepals shortly connate at base with or without apical calli. Petals coherent above claw, contorted, glabrous. Long filaments sometimes with a dorsal tooth each. Ovules 1 - 10 in 1 - 2 rows per locule; stigma cylindric, minutely bilobed to peltate, sometimes papillose. Capsules loculicidal by longitudinal slits; seeds 1 - 10 per locule.

Cosmopolitan, chiefly C. and S. America and S. Africa; ca 800 species, 10.in India.

KEY TO THE SPECIES

1a. Inflorescence 1-flowered

2

b. Inflorescence 2- or more flowered

4

2a. Plants not bulbous; petals white

3

b. Plants bulbous; petals red

10. Oxalis variabilis

3a. Stipules conspicuous, much broader than petiole; leatlets broadly obcordate, outlines rounded

1. Oxalis acetosella

b. Stipules narrow, slightly broader than petiole; leaflets distinctly triangular, outlines straight

7. Oxalis griffithii

4a. Plants acaulescent; leaves radical, arising from root stock

5

b. Plants caulescent; usually creeping, rarely erect

9

5a. Leaflets 3

6

b. Leaflets more than 3

8

6a. Leaflets cordate, bilobed with a wide sinus; petals yellow

2. Oxalis cernua

b. Leaflets broadly deltoid or obcordate; petals purple

7

7a. Stolons present; leaflets broadly deltoid, not punctate

5. Oxalis dehradunensis

b. Stolons absent; leaflets broadlyobcordate with a narrow sinus, minutely punctate

4. Oxalis corymbosa

8a. Leaflets 4

6. Oxalis deppei

b. Leaflets 7 - 9

8. Oxalis lasiandra

9a. Flowers in simple umbels; petals yellow

3. Oxalis corniculata

b. Flowers in broad umbelliform false racemes; petals Orange- yellow

9. Oxalis pubescens

List of Lower Taxa