Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Palm tree oxalis

(Oxalis articulata articulata)

galery
en

Description

Oxalis lasiandra, common names palm tree oxalis and Mexican shamrock, is a plant species native to the Mexican State of Oaxaca but grown as an ornamental in other regions. It occurs in Quercus-Acacia and Quercus forests at elevations of 1,700–2,160 m (5,580–7,090 ft). Oxalis lasiandra is a perennial herb up to 40 cm (16 in) tall. It is closely related to O. magnifica but the bulb scales have 15–25 nerves. Leaves have 7–9 leaflets. Flowers are pink to crimson, drooping at night but pointing upward in the daytime. Oxalis is a large genus of flowering plants in the wood-sorrel family Oxalidaceae, comprising over 550 species. The genus occurs throughout most of the world, except for the polar areas; species diversity is particularly rich in tropical Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. Many of the species are known as wood sorrels (sometimes written "woodsorrels" or "wood-sorrels") as they have an acidic taste reminiscent of the sorrel proper (Rumex acetosa), which is only distantly related. Some species are called yellow sorrels or pink sorrels after the color of their flowers instead. Other species are colloquially known as false shamrocks, and some called sourgrasses. For the genus as a whole, the term oxalises is also used. These plants are annual or perennial. The leaves are divided into three to ten or more obovate and top notched leaflets, arranged palmately with all the leaflets of roughly equal size. The majority of species have three leaflets; in these species, the leaves are superficially similar to those of some clovers. Some species exhibit rapid changes in leaf angle in response to temporarily high light intensity to decrease photoinhibition. The flowers have five petals, which are usually fused at the base, and ten stamens. The petal color varies from white to pink, red or yellow; anthocyanins and xanthophylls may be present or absent but are generally not both present together in significant quantities, meaning that few wood-sorrels have bright orange flowers. The fruit is a small capsule containing several seeds. The roots are often tuberous and succulent, and several species also reproduce vegetatively by production of bulbils, which detach to produce new plants. Several Oxalis species dominate the plant life in local woodland ecosystems, be it Coast Range ecoregion of the North American Pacific Northwest, or the Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest in southeastern Australia where least yellow sorrel (O. exilis) is common.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum:
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Oxalidales
Family:Oxalidaceae
Genus:Oxalis
News coming your way
The biggest news about our planet delivered to you each day