Oxalis question

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Thu, 26 Sep 2002 18:06:39 PDT
Johannes-Ulrich Urban asked,

>Has anybody ever managed to create an Oxalis hybrid? or harvest seed at all? 
>(except the devilish annual ones, of course)

There is a well-known hybrid between (I think, this is just from memory) O.
enneaphylla and O. laciniata called 'Ione Hecker'. It is a floriferous
plant, dormant in winter and flowering in mid to late spring with big white
flowers striated with violet. I grow it in a pot plunged in some big
planters that I keep on my covered deck for fussy alpines. It is often
grown by alpine gardeners. It would not be suitable for very warm regions.

I have harvested seed in the wild from several Oxalis species, but the only
one I got to grow was O. squamata, a tap-rooted species from the lower
Andes in central Chile. It has fleshy, glaucous leaves and produces bright
rose-pink flowers all summer. It is marginally hardy here so is not a weed
problem, but I would not plant it in California.

Jane McGary
NW Oregon, USA




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