Oxalis caprina or Oxalis incarnata?
Claude Sweet (Fri, 30 May 2003 21:32:36 PDT)

Mary Sue,

I will have extra bulbs and bulbils to share if anyone is interested.

This plant, whatever its species, has a very interesting stem and branch
structure. It presents a mound like appearance when in full flower.

I was hoping someone might have extra oxalis incarnata bulbs to share so
I could make a comparison.

The bulbils really do look like seed pods. I had not examined the plant
stems closely prior to the suggestion that O. incarnata formed bulbils.
This just shows how valuable these forums are in exchanging useful
information.

Claude Sweet
San Diego, CA

Mary Sue Ittner wrote:

Dear Claude,

This was my mystery plant. I called it Oxalis sp. on the wiki and just
wrote that Diana thought it could be O. caprina. She was only
speculating. Mine has started to dry up, but that may just be because
I have stopped watering it. It is the longest blooming Oxalis I have.
(October to April). Maybe I could keep it going longer had I kept
watering it. Mine have liked shade better than sun too and they do
fine with a summer dormancy. My tag says BX ? but I am wondering if my
friend Jana gave them to me from some she got from the BX. Mine have
what I thought at first was seed in the leaf axils, but then decided
was bulbs even though they look different from the bulbs in the pot.
I conclude that my plant is the same as yours.

Cape Plants lists an Oxalis incarnata and it seems to be native to
both summer and winter rainfall areas, has white or pale lilac flowers
with a greenish tube. Not much from the description to nail it for me.
The book says bloom from January to April so mine is blooming at the
same time in this hemisphere as this plant does in South Africa if
that is what it is. I'll be happy to correct the wiki picture and add
this other possible name as well.

Mary Sue