OXALIS DEBILIS

Family and Genus:- See-OXALIDACEAE

Common Names:- None

Homotypic Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Oxalis (Gr) Acid-salt, a name used by Nicander of Colophon the 2nd

century BC), Greek poet and physician, and refers to the taste of sorrel.

Debilis (L) Weak, feeble, frail.

General description:- An almost hairless, acaulescent perennial.

Bulb:-

1) Subterranean, 15-30 mm, which soon develops into a mass of sessile bulbils 2-3

mm.

Leaves:-

1) Petioles, 5-15(-30) cm, flexuous;

a) leaflets, 20-45 x 20-55 mm, obcordate or orbicular, with a narrow indentatio

at the apex, punctate beneath, especially near the margin.

Flowers:-

1) Inflorescence, a corymbose cyme;

a) flowers, infundibuliform.

b) petals, 15-20 mm, purplish-pink.

Key features:-

1) Petals, 15-20 mm, purplish-pink.

2) Leaflets, widest at or below middle, pubescent, and punctate beneath near the

margin.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Fallow and cultivated fields of the lowland, roadsides.

Distribution:- Reported from few and scattered localities in Greece, including W

Crete, Karpathos and Samothraki, but probably only as a casual escapee.

Flowering time:- Mar-May.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton