Notice

Colin Mills, compiler of the Hortus Camdenensis, died in late November 2012 after a short illness. As he always considered the Hortus his legacy, it is his family's intention to keep the site running in perpetuity. It will not, however, be updated in the near future.

Oxalis flava L.

Very variable, half-hardy rhizomatous perennial with up to 12, narrow leaflets per leaf, up to 20cm long, and solitary, bright yellow, white or very pale rose-violet flowers, to 2.5cm across, with a yellow throat, borne slightly above the flowers in spring and summer.  To 25cm.  [RHSD].  

Horticultural & Botanical History

There is also a double form.  [PD].  ‘The place of this genus in a natural system does not seem to be finally determined.  By Professor de Jussieu it has been provisionally enrolled in his order of Gerania or Geranium-tribe.  Some species [of Oxalis] are to be found in each of the four quarters of the globe; but of rather more than a hundred that are already recorded, ninety are natives of the Cape of Good Hope.  The present is from thence, and was introduced by Mr. F. Masson in 1775. […] A greenhouse plant, cultivated in small pots filled with a mixture of peat-mould and hazel loam.  The drawing was taken this spring at Mr. Creswell’s conservatory in Battersea Square.’  [BR f.117/1816].

History at Camden Park

Listed in all published catalogues [B.372/1843].

Notes

Recorded as a weed in the southern and western states of Australia but only from the southern district of Albury in NSW.

Published Jan 28, 2010 - 03:10 PM | Last updated Jan 28, 2010 - 03:15 PM

Figured are palmate leaves with up to 12 leaflets and yellow flowers.  Botanical Register f.117, 1816.

Oxalis flava L. | BR f.117/1816 | RBGS

Family Oxalidaceae
Category
Region of origin

South Africa

Synonyms
Common Name
Name in the Camden Park Record

Oxalis flava 

Confidence level high