Oxalis hirta/crassipes/articulata{Oxalis-TOW}
JFlintoff@aol.com (Tue, 18 Nov 2003 08:58:44 PST)

Re the confusion of the names hirta,crassipes and articulata. Finally
had time to look at Alicia Lourteig's paper in Phytologia v.50 (1982) on Oxalis
Section Articulatae. The paper is written in Spanish which I do not really
know, but I rely on my rather good background in Latin and French for the
following.

Lourteig recognizes the following plants for this section:
articulata,articulata ssp. rubra, articulata ssp. hirta f. crassipes,floribunda, floribunda
ssp. ostenii, lasiopetala and monticola.

Key to articulata and its subspecies:

C. Pubescence dense, more or less straight. Sepals linear,
calluses linear
or 2-forked. Petals with straight pubescence in the
exposed areas at
the tip
O. articulata ssp.
articulata.

C. Pubescence short, scanty. Sepals elliptical with small
oblong or
punctiform calluses. Petals with little pubescence.

d. Flowers rose-colored. Sepals with 2 small calluses.

O.articulata ssp. rubra
( St. Hil.)Lourteig

d. Flowers white. Sepals with 2-4-5 short calluses which
are sometimes
joined.

O.articulata ssp. rubra
f. crassipes
(Urban) Lourteig.

Oxalis articulata: described from a plant collected in 1767 in pastures
in Montevideo, Uruguay. Abundant in Uruguay in the Province of Buenos Aires
and much rarer in the Entre Rios and in Santa Fe (Argentina) as well in Rio
Grane do Sul (Brazil).
She studied specimens ( naturalized and cultivated ) in N and S
Am.,Europe,S. Africa,Australia and NZ.

Oxalis articulata ssp. rubra: described from a plant found by St.Hilaire
on the banks of rivers near the village Freguesia Nova in the southern
Province of St Paul. Grows in moist places in the Province of Buenos Aires, rare in
the south of Uruguay and Brazil. Introduced in N. Am. and Europe and Egypt.

Oxalis articulata ssp. rubra f. crassipes: described from a plant
cultivated in Germany from " South America ". Lourteig considers this a
white-flowered mutation that has been maintained in cultivation. It can be microstylous
or mesostylous. Naturalized in Europe, Israel, US, Java and NZ

O. hirta of course is from S Afr.

Jerry John Flintoff
Vashon Island,Washington,USA
Zone 8