Dear All, When Jim Holmes spoke in South Africa on Oxalis I attempted to take notes, but that was made a bit challenging since I also was looking at the slides at the same time. And there was no slide list so I had to guess on the names. So I am not sure how helpful any of this information is or how accurate for that matter, but here is what I wrote about the species: Oxalis tenuifolia--grows in sand, vanishing quickly, red stripe on back Oxalis pulchella--looks like purpurea, dark leaves, bright yellow flowers Oxalis polyphylla--white to pink, small Oxalis purpurea--grows in crevices, needs good light Note from Mary Sue, this one can be a bit invasive in California, but it is attractive and long blooming. My experience has been that it doesn't bloom at all if it doesn't get a lot of sun Oxalis flava--dry sandy soils, very deep. Many leaflets, many different leaflet types, some darker forms. Not always happy in a pot. Flowers sitting on ground without leaves if not potted in time. Has largest flowers in the group. Oxalis pulchella--large flowers, very hot conditions, grows on rock in Tonka Karoo where it gets little rain. Found in cracks on bottom, fragrant, no direct sun. Apricot, yellowish, floriferous Oxalis salteri--leaves look almost primula like, pure yellow or pure white flowers in small populations, none in between. Grows very dry, but not very deep. In flava group, more advanced. Oxalis namaquana--looks like flava, but doesn't fit Oxalis cathara--flowers late in single populations, similar to flava bulbs, but smaller. Some double forms. Oxalis palmifrons--from very cold area, leaves flat on ground. Reluctant to flower in cultivation. Need bigger bulb. (I have no idea what the last sentence means.) Oxalis livida--tight rosettes, from damp areas, very variable Oxalis punctata--large flowers, very pretty, found in Nieuwoudtville, short stemmed to tall Oxalis luteola--very floriferous, bulb looks like a stone which protects the bulb Oxalis luteola minor--smaller leaves and flowers Oxalis hirta--widespread, many forms, salmon, orange, white, yellow. Variation is tremendous. Oxalis massoniana--related to hirta, known from Nieuwouldtville, lovely, long blooming Oxalis convexula--Worcester, very succulent, rosette flat or rosette that stands, produces bulbs around ? (Note from Mary Sue, is this the one that produces thousands of what could be baby bulbs around the top of the stem?) Oxalis obtusa--very showy. Comes from dry regions. Bulbs small, concave. Those from Namaqualand are yellow, those from southern areas are pink. Late blooming. Seed of this species has capsules that allow it to survive the long summer, unlike other species Oxalis livilans--needs to be kept wet Oxalis glabra--stoloniferous, makes small colonies, wet seepy areas, white to mauve, small bulbs Oxalis monophylla--found in Cape Town area, Gordon's Bay Oxalis monophylla minor, seep area, single standing leaf, covered in fine tissues, bulb sits on basal plate with 6 or 7 on one plate. One or two flowers from each bulb. Not true of any other group. Oxalis dregei--single leaf, grows in running water Oxalis nortieri--single leaf, flowers like purpurea, looks like nothing else. Oxalis comosa--flowers with three colors. Found in flat, wet areas, Nieuwoudtville, not many with three colors Finally, Cape Plants by Peter Goldblatt and John Manning devotes 8 pages to Oxalis found in the Cape floral province of South Africa. The section is written by B. Bayer. This book incorporates the key and since there is no index to the plants this drives me crazy when I am trying to find a plant listed since they are divided into nine sections in the key. For those of you who do not have this book these are the sections: A. Peduncle more than 1 flowered--10 species including some of the pesty ones (O. corniculata, O. pes-caprae) A.' Peduncle 1-flowered B. Leaves unifoliolate--4 species B.' Leaves usually 4 or more folioate--7 species B.'' Leaves trifoliolate C. Peduncular bracts at an articulation D. Leaves bifurcate to middle or below--3 species D. Leaves not bifurcate--13 species C. Peduncular bracts not at an articulation or lacking E. Plants caulescent with leafy stems; lower leaves at least subsessile or sessile; peduncles often cauline--13 species E. Plants acaulescent or caulescent but then leaves apically congested and distinctly petiolate; peduncles terminal F. Leaflets linear-conduplicate--18 species F. Leaflets oblong to obcordate G. Leaflets fleshy, often small, epidermal cells large--12 species G. Leaflets not as above--40 species Does this key follow Salter? Would any of the botanists in the group be willing to translate this into terms we could all understand? Mary Sue