ID in an Andean canyon

AW awilson@avonia.com
Fri, 19 Nov 2010 13:32:16 PST
Hi Gregg!

That is certainly not an oxalis that I grow! It is conceivable that it is a
member of the Oxalis tuberosa alliance or one of the many hybrid oxalids
that local people around Cusco eat. Take a look at this paper:

"Origins of domestication and polyploidy in oca (Oxalis tuberosa:
Oxalidaceae)" 3: AFLP data of oca and four wild, tuber-bearing taxa.
Eve Emshwiller, Terra Theim, Alfredo Grau, Victor Nina and Franz Terrazas
2009. American Journal of Botany.  96(10):1839-1848

or, if online:
http://wisc.academia.edu/EveEmshwiller/Papers/…
n_and_polyploidy_in_oca_Oxalis_tuberosa_Oxalidaceae_3_AFLP_data_of_oca_and_f
our_wild_tuber-bearing_taxa

Some of the images of tubers in Fig. 2 in that paper could be consistent
with yours. Hybrid plants produce much largers tubers than the original
species do. Did you bring any back?

Andrew 
San Diego


Andy and Ernie.
 
Here is a photo of an Oxalis I photographed in Sept. on an exposed,
seasonally dry hillside above a river in Cusco Province, Peru. I had no idea
what it was at the time. Each segment is about 7cm long, arising from a
thickened semi-geophytic base. A fascinating plant to me. Any ideas on the
species? We saw no flowers as it was too early in the season and still very
dry- in fact, much higher up wildfires had been burning for over a week and
lit up the night sky.
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/u4banut/5190383536/

Gregg DeChirico
Santa Barbara, California
http://www.flickr.com/photos/u4banut/sets/



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