Oxalis sp.

Wood Sorrel at Hackett, ACT

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Identification history

	Oxalis sp.	23 Sep 2020	MichaelMulvaney
	Oxalis perennans	21 Sep 2020	sbittinger

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User's notes

Oxalis perennans, Grassland Wood Sorrel. The leaves are so distinctive.

4 comments

MichaelMulvaney wrote:

22 Sep 2020

Am interested how you tell from the leaves that this is not Oxalis thompsoniae or Oxalis exiles
Cheers Michael Mulvaney

sbittinger wrote:

22 Sep 2020

You are way ahead of me, Michael. I am a novice at plant identification, and just happened on some other photos of Oxalis perennans -- which looked pretty similar to this plant I found. I was not even aware that there were other varieties of Oxalis with similar leaves. I will look them up to compare. I appreciate you telling me about them.

MichaelMulvaney wrote:

23 Sep 2020

No worries - you need the photos to include a pod to tell them apart. I don't have my book with me and my memory is a bit hazy but one species has a pod like a rocket with ribbed sides, one of the pods is hairy and one is hairless and without ribs.

waltraud wrote:

23 Sep 2020

Steve, some plants are hard to tell apart even by experts who may need to look at certain parts of the plant such as fruits. The species in the Oxalis genus is an example of hard to tell apart, the species of Cymbonotus, the Bear's Ear is another. We do have Oxalis perennans on Mt Majura; I collected a specimen and had it id-ed by a botanist. Species identification from photographs is sometimes not possible particularly if it is not taken from the part of the plant which is crucial for id; botanists may also request specimen for id and refuse to id from photos.

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