Summary ⁵

Oxalis oregana (redwood sorrel, Oregon oxalis) is a species of the wood sorrel family, Oxalidaceae, native to moist Douglas-fir and coast redwood forests of western North America from southwestern British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California.

Description ⁶

Oxalis oregana is a short, herbaceousperennial plant with erect flowering stems 5–15 cm tall. The three leaflets are heart-shaped, 1–4.5 cm long with purplish undersides, on 5–20 cm stalks. The inflorescence is 2.4–4 cm in diameter, white to pink with five petals and sepals. The hairy five-chambered seed capsules are egg-shaped, 7–9 mm long; seeds are almond shaped.

Food ⁶

The leaves of Oxalis oregana were eaten by the Cowlitz, Quileute and Quinault peoples. Like spinach, they contain mildly toxic oxalic acid, which is named after the genus.

Light response ⁶

Redwood sorrel, Oxalis oregana, photosynthesises at relatively low levels of ambient light (1/200th of full sunlight). When direct sunlight strikes the leaves they fold downwards; when shade returns, the leaves reopen. Taking only a few minutes, this movement is observable to the eye.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) edgeplot, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/45789087@N00/439341518
2. (c) John Rusk, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/john_d_rusk/12062934573/
3. (c) James Gaither, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim-sf/3371766742/
4. (c) James Gaither, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim-sf/3370884275/
5. Adapted by dlimandri from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalis_oregana
6. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalis_oregana

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• CalFlora
• Calflora
• CalPhotos
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Jepson eFlora
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• OregonFlora.org
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
• World Flora Online

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