What's going on here (Oxalis)

Kipp McMichael kimcmich@hotmail.com
Tue, 28 Mar 2017 21:14:42 PDT
Greetings,


  I assume this is Oxalis pes-caprae (which has been corrupted to "compress"?)


  At any rate, this oxalis produces resting tubers that look like acorns (enough that jays and other critters spread them in the landscape). The plant you uprooted was a sprout of the corm you pulled out  - the corm being the product of growth in a prior season. The corm sprouts a root-like shoot that eventually grows to the surface *and* puts down roots. New cormlets form along the whole root/stem and are usually stripped-off by uprooting - a feature which makes this oxalis invasive and difficult to eradicate.


  Since the corms are vegetative offsets the double bloom would presumably be a trait it inherited. The invasive O. pes caprae in California does not set seed - it is spread via the cormlets. I have sifted hundreds from soils all over the Bay Area where it is a terrible invasive weed... though it is also quite gorgeous this time of year, too.


-|<ipp




________________________________
From: pbs <pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org> on behalf of David Pilling <david@davidpilling.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2017 4:29 PM
To: Pacific Bulb Society
Subject: [pbs] What's going on here (Oxalis)

Hi,

Jim Waddick asked me to post the following question and pictures (on the
wiki page).

"
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Pacific Bulb Society | Things we are talking about on the ...<http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…>
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18th February 2017 I received this unlabeled plant/these plants recently at a garden exchange. It looks like Albuca shawii, and it It produced a lot of new leaves ...




Here's a plant of Oxalis compress with large double flowers, but what is
going on here.? The flowers are part of a good size clump of leaves, but
then there is a near leafless stem going down almost a foot to end in a
tiny corm barely under the soil. Unfortunately a greenhouse weed.

Notice that the clump of foliage is NOT resting on the ground and has no
hint of roots. Also note the picture of the tiny tuber. The tuber is
attached to the main stem and there is a small bud just starting to
develop where the tuber meets the stem. A lot of odd structures here.
"

Apparently the 3 billion users of FaceBook have failed to solve the
mystery. Time to ask the experts.

Short URL:

https://goo.gl/kYocds/




--
David Pilling
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