Oxalis magnifica

Ron Vanderhoff rvanderhoff@sbcglobal.net
Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:09:23 PDT
Debbie,
 
Oxalis magnifica was described in 1919 by the German botanist, Reinhard Gustav Paul Knuth. 
 
This is a fairly common Oxalis in Mexico, especially in the state of Oaxaca and apparently ranges south through Central America and possibly into northern South America..
 
It is a bulbous plant, without a rhizome; stemless (acaulescent), leafy and clumping. The leaves are rather large for an Oxalis, often as much as 4" across, with between 4 and 10 leaflets, but usually 6 to 8. The leaflets have a few long and noticeable hairs on the upper surface, with a smooth margin and a smooth underside. Each leaflet is oblanceolate to narrowly obovate; truncate to emarginate at the tip.
 
The flower stalk (peduncle) is especially long, often over 12 inches, and supports an inflorescence composed of approximately 10-12 flowers. Because of the length of the peduncle, the flowers are usually held well above the foliage. The petals are a rosy purple-pink with a whitish band above a yellow throat.
 
This is a typical tristylous form of Oxalis, with most plants in cultivation apparently being medium form (or "mediostylar") and are self incompatable for pollination.
 
This is a sub tropical Oxalis preferring the warm season. In southern California O. magnifica breaks dormancy about the first of May, is in bloom within a week or two, blooms well for about two months and then, depending on heat, trickles a few flowers through the summer, going dormant again by mid November.
 
It is similar to two other fairy common Mexican Oxalis, O. lasiandra and O. nelsonii (which it is often confused with).

I have a couple of photos of this species in my picture folder on the Oxalis Growers Group website:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Oxalis-growers/

Hope that helps you.


Ron Vanderhoff
California




 


----- Original Message ----
From: Deborah Jordan <djordan68@comcast.net>
To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 8:57:50 AM
Subject: [pbs] Oxalis magnifica

Can anyone post some info one this species?
Thanks,
Debbie
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