Oxalis

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Oxalis

Oxalis is by far the largest genus

Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
in the wood-sorrel family Oxalidaceae

Oxalidaceae

The Oxalidaceae, or wood sorrel family, is a small family of eight genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs and small trees, with the great majority of the 900 species in the genus Oxalis ....
: of the approximately 900 known species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
in the Oxalidaceae, 800 belong here. The genus occurs throughout most of the world, except for the polar

Polar

Polar may refer to:As a noun:*Cervecer?a Polar, C.A., Venezuelan brewery and beer*Polar , Norwegian electronic music artist*Polar , satellite launched by NASA in 1996....
areas; species diversity is particularly rich in tropical Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
and South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
.

Many of the species are known as wood-sorrels (in American English

American English

PhonologyIn many ways, compared to English language in England, North American English is conservative in its phonology. Some distinctive accents can be found on the East Coast of the United States , partly because these areas were in contact with England, and imitated prestigious varieties of English English at a time when those varieties we...
typically written "woodsorrels" or "wood sorrels") as they have an acidic taste reminiscent of the unrelated Sorrel

Sorrel

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Encyclopedia

Oxalis is by far the largest genus

Genus

Oxalidaceae

Species

Polar

Brazil

Mexico

South Africa

American English

Sorrel

Common Sorrel or Garden Sorrel , often simply called sorrel and also known as Spinach Dock or Narrow-leaved Dock, is a perennial plant Herbaceous plant that is cultivated as a garden herb or leaf vegetable ....
(Rumex acetosa) proper. 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 are rather misleadingly called "sourgrass
Sourgrass

Sourgrass is a common name given to several plant species which have a sour taste. Most are in fact not grasses:* Digitaria insularis, a true grass ...
es". For the genus as a whole, the term oxalises is also used.

Description and ecology

of Oxalis]] These plants are annual

Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
or perennial

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
. The leaves

Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
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 clover

Clover

Clover , or trefoil, is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the pea family Fabaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution; the highest diversity is found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes on mountains in the tropics....
s. Some species exhibit rapid changes in leaf angle in response to temporarily high light intensity.

The flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s have five petal

Petal

A petal is one member or part of the Corolla of a flower. The corolla is the name for all of the petals of a flower; the inner perianth whorl, term used when this is not the same in appearance as the outermost whorl and is used to attract pollinators based on its advertising coloration....
s which are usually fused at the base and ten stamen

Stamen

The stamen is the male organ of a flower. Each stamen generally has a stalk called the filament , and, on top of the filament, an anther , and pollen sacs, called sporangium....
s. The petal color varies from white to pink, red or yellow; anthocyanin

Anthocyanin

Anthocyanins are solubility vacuole pigments that may appear red, purple, or blue according to pH. They belong to a parent class of molecules called flavonoids synthesized via the phenylpropanoid pathway....
s and xanthophyll

Xanthophyll

Xanthophylls are yellow pigments from the carotenoid group. Their molecular structure is based on carotenes; contrary to the carotenes, some hydrogen atoms are substituted by hydroxyl groups and/or some pairs of hydrogen atoms are substituted by oxygen atoms....
s may be both absent but are generally not both present in significant quantities – i.e., wood-sorrels do not have bright orange flowers. The fruit

Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
is a small capsule

Capsule (fruit)

In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a dehiscent structure composed of two or more carpels, that, at maturity, split apart to release the seeds within....
containing several seed

Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
s. The root

Root

In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial root or aerating ....
s are often tuber

Tuber

Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to overwinter and regrow the next year and as a means of asexual reproduction....
ous and succulent

Succulent plant

Succulent plants, also known as succulents or fat plants, are water-retaining plants adapted to arid climate or soil conditions. Succulent plants store water in their leaf, Plant stem and/or roots....
, and several species also reproduce vegetatively by production of bulb

Bulb

A bulb is an underground vertical shoot that has modified leaf that are used as food storage organs by a dormancy plant.A bulb's leaf bases generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions....
ils, which detach to produce new plants.

(Pseudozizeeria maha) of the dry-season brood laying eggs on Oxalis]] Several Oxalis species dominate the plantlife in local woodland

Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade....
ecosystem

Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment....
s, be it in the Coast Range ecoregion of the North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
n Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America . There are several partially overlapping definitions but the term Pacific Northwest should not be confused with the Northwest Territory or the Northwest Territories of Canada....
, or the Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest

Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest

The Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest is one of six main indigenous forest communities of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is also among the three of these plant communities which have been classified as endangered species, under the New South Wales government's Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, with only around 0.5% of its...
in southeastern Australia

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
where Least Yellow-sorrel (O. exilis) is common. In the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
and neighboring Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, Common Wood-sorrel (O. acetosella) is the typical woodland member of this genus, forming large swathes in the typical mixed deciduous forests dominated by Downy Birch

Downy Birch

Betula pubescens is a species of birch, native and abundant throughout northern Europe, Iceland, northern Asia and also Greenland.It is a deciduous tree growing to 10-20 m tall , with a slender crown and a trunk up to 70 cm diameter, with smooth but dull grey-white bark finely marked with dark horizontal lenticels....
(Betula pubescens) and Sessile Oak

Sessile Oak

The Sessile Oak , also known as Durmast Oak, is a species of oak native to most of Europe, and into Anatolia....
(Quercus petraea), by Sycamore Maple

Sycamore Maple

Acer pseudoplatanus is a species of maple native to central Europe and southwestern Asia, from France east to Poland, and south in mountains to northern Spain, northern Turkey, and the Caucasus....
(Acer pseudoplatanus), Common Bracken

Bracken

Brackens are a genus of about ten species of large, coarse ferns, in the family Dennstaedtiaceae, commonly found on moorland. The genus has probably the widest distribution of any fern genus in the world, being found on all continents except Antarctica and in all environments except for hot and cold deserts....
(Pteridium aquilinum), Sessile Oak

Sessile Oak

The Sessile Oak , also known as Durmast Oak, is a species of oak native to most of Europe, and into Anatolia....
(Q. robur) and blackberries (Rubus fruticosus agg.), or by Common Ash (Fraxinus excelsior), Dog's Mercury

Dog's Mercury

Mercurialis perennis, or Dog's Mercury, is a spring flower found across Europe, but almost absent from Ireland, Orkney and Shetland. It is a hairy dioecious perennial with erect stems bearing simple, serrate leaves....
(Mercurialis perennis) and European Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia); it is also common in Common Juniper (Juniperus communis ssp. communis) woods. Some species – notably Bermuda-buttercup (O. pes-caprae) and Creeping Woodsorrel (O. corniculata) – are pernicious invasive

Invasive species

Invasive species is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically....
weed

WEED

WEED is a radio station broadcasting a Gospel format. Licensed to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA, it serves the area. The station is currently owned by Northstar Broadcasting Corporation....
s when escaping from cultivation outside their native ranges; the ability of most wood-sorrels to store reserve energy in their tuber

Tuber

Weed control

Weed control is the botanical component of pest control, stopping weeds from reaching a mature stage of growth when they could be harmful to domesticated plants and livestock by physical and chemical methods....
techniques.

Tuberous woodsorrels provide food for certain small herbivore

Herbivore

Herbivory is a form of predation in which an organism, known as an herbivore, heterotrophs principally autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria....
s – such as the Montezuma Quail

Montezuma Quail

The Montezuma Quail is a stubby, secretive Odontophoridae of Mexico and adjoining parts of the United States. It is also known as Mearns's Quail, the Harlequin Quail , and the Fool Quail ....
(Cyrtonyx montezumae) –, though the oxalic acid

Oxalic acid

Oxalic acid is the chemical compound with the chemical formula H2C2O4. This dicarboxylic acid is better described with the formula HOOCCOOH....
content probably makes the plants toxic to many mammal

Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
s. The foliage is eaten by some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterfly. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterfly, skipper , and Hedylidae....
, such as the Polyommatini

Polyommatini

Polyommatini is a tribe of Lycaenidae butterflies in the subfamily Polyommatinae. They were extensively studied by lepidopterist Vladimir Nabokov....
Pale Grass Blue (Pseudozizeeria maha) – which feeds on Creeping Woodsorrel and others – and Dark Grass Blue (Zizeeria lysimon).

Use by humans

, the toxin

Toxin

A toxin is a poisonous substance produced by living cells or organisms. For a toxic substance not produced by living organisms, "toxicant" is the more appropriate term, and "toxics" is an acceptable plural....
found in many wood-sorrels]] (O. tuberosa) tuber

Tuber

Oca

The oca or oka is a perennial plant grown in the central and southern Andes for its starchy edible tuber, used as a root vegetable. Its leaves and young shoots can be eaten as a green vegetable as well....
(O. tuberosa), somewhat similar to a small potato

Potato

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial plant Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family. The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well....
, have long been cultivated for food in Colombia

Colombia

Colombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a country in north-western South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the north west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and elsewhere in the northern Andes

Andes

The Andes form the world's longest exposed mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. The range is over 7,000 km long, 200-700 km wide , and of an average height of about 4,000 m ....
mountain

Mountain

A mountain is a landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill....
s of South America

South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
. The leaves of Scurvy-grass Sorrel

Scurvy-grass Sorrel

Scurvy-grass sorrel is a late spring- and summer-flowering, tuberous, alpine climate perennial plant native to the grasslands of South America. It is a small plant that grows to 7 cm height and 10 cm spread....
(O. enneaphylla) were eaten by sailor

Sailor

A sailor or mariner is a person who navigates ships or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses....
s travelling around Patagonia

Patagonia

Patagonia is a geographic region containing the southernmost portion of South America. Located in Argentina and Chile, it comprises the Andes mountains to the west and south, and plateaux and low plains to the east....
as a source of vitamin C

Vitamin C

Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient for humans, a large number of simian species, a small number of other mammalian species , a few species of birds, and some fish....
to avoid scurvy

Scurvy

Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus....
.

A characteristic of many members of this genus is that they contain oxalic acid

Oxalic acid

Oxalic acid is the chemical compound with the chemical formula H2C2O4. This dicarboxylic acid is better described with the formula HOOCCOOH....
(whose name references the genus), giving the leaves and flowers a sour taste, refreshing to chew in small amounts. However, in large amounts these species are toxic, interfering with proper digestion

Digestion

Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food into smaller components, to a form that can be Absorption, for instance, by a blood stream....
and kidney

Kidney

The kidneys are Organ that have numerous biological roles. Their primary role is to maintain the homeostasis balance of bodily fluids by filtering and secreting Metabolomics#Metabolitess and minerals from the blood and excreting them, along with water , as urine....
function. In India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Creeping Woodsorrel (O. corniculata) is only eaten seasonally, starting December/January. The leaves of Common Wood-sorrel (O. acetosella) are commonly thought to make a very good tea when dried.

(O. tetraphylla) grown as a pot plant]]

In the past, it was a practice to extract crystals of calcium oxalate

Calcium oxalate

Calcium oxalate is a chemical compound that forms needle-shaped crystals. Its chemical formula is CaC2O4 or Ca2....
for use in treating diseases and as a salt called sal acetosella or "sorrel salt" (also known as "salt of lemon"). Growing Oca tuber root cap

Root cap

The root cap is a section of tissue at the tip of a plant root. Root caps contain statoliths which are involved in gravity perception in plants....
s are covered in fluorescent slush rich in harmaline

Harmaline

Harmaline is a fluorescent psychoactive indole alkaloid from the group of harmala alkaloids and beta-carbolines. It is the reduced hydrated form of harmine....
and harmine

Harmine

Harmine is a fluorescent harmala alkaloid belonging to the beta-carboline family of compounds. It occurs in a number of different plants, most notably the Middle Eastern plant harmal or Syrian rue and the South American vine Banisteriopsis caapi ....
and apparently suppresses pest

Pest

Pest may refer to:*Pest, an archaic term for pestilence, originally the Black Death*Pest , an ice hockey player specialising in aggravating opponents...
s; this phenomenon has been studied to some extent at the Colorado State University

Colorado State University

Colorado State University is a public institution of higher learning located in Fort Collins, Colorado, Colorado in the United States. Colorado State University is the state's Morrill Act university and the flagship campus university of the Colorado State University System....
. Creeping Wood-sorrel and perhaps other species are apparently hyperaccumulators of copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity....
. The Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty , or Empire of the Great Ming , was the ruling Dynasties in Chinese history of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty....
text Precious Secrets of the Realm of the King of Xin from 1421 describes how O. corniculata can be used to locate copper deposits as well as for geobotanical prospecting

Geobotanical Prospecting

Geobotanical prospecting refers to prospecting based on the analysis of the vegetation. The Viscaria Mine in Sweden was named after the flower Viscaria Alpina that was used by prospecters to discover the ore deposits....
. It thus ought to have some potential for phytoremediation

Phytoremediation

Phytoremediation describes the treatment of natural environmental problems through the use of plants.The word's etymology comes from the Greek f?t? = plant, and Latin ? remedium ? = restoring balance, or remediating....
of contaminated soils.

Several species are grown as pot plants or as ornamental plant

Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are typically grown in the flower garden or as house plants. Most commonly they are grown for the display of their flowers. Other common ornamental features include leaves, scent, fruit, Plant stem and bark....
s in garden

Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials....
s. Species with four regular leaflets – in particular O. regnellii (False Shamrock or Purple Shamrock) and O. tetraphylla (Four-leaved Pink-sorrel) – are sometimes misleadingly sold as "four-leaf clover

Clover

Clover , or trefoil, is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the pea family Fabaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution; the highest diversity is found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes on mountains in the tropics....
", taking advantage of the mystical status of four-leaf clover

Four-leaf clover

For information on the song, go to Four Leaf Clover The four-leaf clover is an uncommon variation of the common, three-leaved, clover. According to tradition, such leaves bring good luck to their finders, especially if found accidentally....
s. The Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan is an island in East Asia. "Taiwan" is also commonly used to refer to the country governed by the Republic of China and to the ROC itself, which governs the island of Taiwan, Orchid Island and Green Island, Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean off the Taiwan coast, the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait, and Kinmen and the Matsu Islands...
ese girl group

Girl group

A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally Harmony together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production values and backing by top studio musicians....
S.H.E

S.H.E

S.H.E is a Taiwanese girl group whose members are Selina Ren, Hebe Tian, and Ella Chen. The name of the group is an alphabetism derived from the first letter of each member's name....
uses a wood-sorrel trefoil

Trefoil

Trefoil is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism. The term is also applied to other symbols of three-fold shape....
as an emblem, placing it for example on each of their album covers

S.H.E discography

S.H.E, a Taiwanese pop music girl group, has released a total of eleven albums to date, including two compilation albums. All of S.H.E's studio and compilation album covers display an "Oxalis", the symbol for the group....
.

Oxalis

Description and ecology

Use by humans

Selected species

See also

Footnotes

External links