Oxalis acetosella Linnaeus subsp. formosana Terao; O. acetosella subsp. griffithii (Edgeworth & J. D. Hooker) H. Hara; O. acetosella subsp. japonica (Franchet & Savatier) H. Hara; O. acetosella var. japonica (Franchet & Savatier) Makino; O. hupehensis R. Knuth; O. japonica Franchet & Savatier; O. leucolepis Diels var. griffithii (Edgeworth & J. D. Hooker) R. C. Srivastava.

Perennials 7-25 cm tall, stemless, pubescent. Rhizome creeping underground, entirely densely covered by dark brown scalelike remains of leaf bases, 6-12 mm thick including scales; scales strigose. Leaves basal; petiole 6-20 cm, pubescent, trichomes brown and curled; leaflet blades obtriangular, 1-2.5(-4.5) × 1.5-3.5(-5.5) cm, abaxially pubescent, adaxially glabrous, apex broadly emarginate to subtruncate; lobe apices obtuse. Flowers solitary, nodding; peduncle 4-15 cm, equal to or longer than leaves; bracts at middle of flowering stalk, lanceolate, 2.5-4 mm, with dense trichomes along midvein and margins. Sepals lanceolate, 5-7 mm, persistent. Petals white with lilac veins, rarely pink (Hubei), narrowly obovate, 1.2-1.6 (-2) cm, apex retuse to deeply emarginate. Capsule oblong- conic, 5-13 × 5-6 mm. Seeds ovoid, 2.5-3.5 mm, longitudinally ridged. Fl. Mar-Sep, fr. May-Oct.

E. H. Wilson 264 (type of Oxalis hupehensis) is a pink-flowered robust form of O. griffithii. Oxalis taimonii Yamamoto (O. acetosella subsp. taimonii (Yamamoto) S. F. Huang & T. C. Huang; O. martiana var. taimonii (Yamamoto) S. S. Ying) is probably referable to O. griffithii but needs further study. The report of O. griffithii from Ningxia (D. Z. Ma & H. L. Liu, eds., Fl. Ningxia. 1: 405. 1986) is O. acetosella.

Mixed deciduous or coniferous forests, thickets, moist and dry shady places; 800-3400 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, India, Japan, Kashmir, Korea, N Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines].