Andrew, That is a very interesting paper. I'm still not sure where my succulent Oxalis falls within the group. I have attached photos of what appears to be Oxalis tuberosa taken about 20 miles or so south of Lima. The Peruvian coastal plain is about the dreariest place I have ever been and these yellow flowers stuck out like little neon lights among shades of gray. I also attached a photo of Oca taken at a farmhouse outside Cajamarca at about 3300 meters elevation. They are as tasty as they are beautiful! http://www.flickr.com/photos/u4banut/5190800202/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/u4banut/5190202189/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/u4banut/5186036455/ I did not have a permit to collect plants, so I just collected some Tillandsia seed at various places along the way. (Hopeful I should live so long to see them flower!) Gregg DeChirico Santa Barbara, California http://www.flickr.com/photos/u4banut/sets/ --- On Fri, 11/19/10, AW <awilson@avonia.com> wrote: From: AW <awilson@avonia.com> Subject: Re: [pbs] ID in an Andean canyon To: "'Pacific Bulb Society'" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Date: Friday, November 19, 2010, 1:32 PM 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/