Great yellow wood-sorrel Great yellow wood-sorrel

Oxalis recurva Trelease, Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 4: 89. 1888, not Elliott 1821; Xanthoxalis grandis (Small) Small

Herbs perennial, caulescent, rhizomes present, <without tubers or tuberlike thickenings>, stolons absent, bulbs absent. Aerial stems 1(–3) from base, erect, (10–)25–60(–100) cm, herbaceous, glabrate to sparsely or densely pilose or villous, <hairs ± straight, spreading, septate and nonseptate>. Leaves cauline, <mostly on distal 1/2 of stem>; stipules apparently absent; petiole 5–7.5 cm, <hairs septate and nonseptate>; leaflets 3, green, obcordate, 5–25(–30) mm, lobed 1/5 length, <lobes apically usually rounded, rarely ± truncate, margins green or brownish purple, ciliate>, surfaces glabrous, oxalate deposits absent. Inflorescences regular, irregular, or umbelliform cymes, 1–4(–8)-flowered; peduncles 7–12 cm. Flowers tristylous, <above level of leaves>; sepal apices without tubercles; petals yellow, with or without faint red lines proximally, 10–14 mm. Capsules ovoid to ovoid-oblong, 6–10 mm, sparsely puberulent. <Seeds brown, transverse ridges brown>. 2n = 28.

Flowering May–Aug. Sandy woods, alluvial soils; 100–1100 m; Ala., D.C., Ga., Ind., Ky., Md., N.C., Ohio, Pa., S.C., Tenn., Va., W.Va.