Dwarf wood-sorrel Dwarf wood-sorrel

Oxalis corniculata Linnaeus var. sericea R. Knuth; O. micrantha Bertero ex Savi; O. radicosa A. Richard; O. simulans Baker

Herbs annual, caulescent, <sometimes densely cespitose>, rhizomes and stolons absent, bulbs absent. Aerial stems 1–5 from base, erect, 0.5–7 cm, usually herbaceous, sometimes becoming ± woody proximally, hirtellous to villous-hirtellous. Leaves cauline; stipules rudimentary; petiole 1.5–6 cm; leaflets 3, green, obcordate, 5–12 mm, lobed 1/5 length, <lobes apically convex>, surfaces glabrous, oxalate deposits absent. Inflorescences racemes, 6–14-flowered; peduncles 3–15 cm. Flowers heterostylous; sepal apices without tubercles; petals yellow, 6–12 mm. Capsules ovoid to spheric, 3–5 mm, puberulent.

Flowering Apr–Jun. Disturbed sites, riparian woodlands, riverbanks, gravelly beaches, rock crevices, foothill woodlands; 10–800 m; introduced; Calif.; South America (Chile).

Oxalis laxa is widespread in California in the eastern part of the Central Valley and along the central coast.