Oxalis hirta
L. Hairy Wood-sorrelHerb with erect stem to 30 cm high, 1–2.2 mm wide, pubescent to hirsute, scaly at base; bulb ovoid to subglobose, 2–3 cm long, tunic dark red-brown; bulbils subterranean, formed on rhizome. Leaves cauline, alternate on upper stems, 3-foliolate; leaflets sessile, linear, oblong or obovate, 5–15(–17) mm long, 3–5(–7) mm wide, slightly emarginate, often conduplicate-falcate, green, glabrous above, pilose, with numerous calli below (sometimes faint), margins ciliate; petioles 1–2(–5) mm long, flattened, scaly; stipules tapering into petiole. Inflorescences axillary, 1-flowered; peduncles longer than leaves. Sepals lanceolate, 4–8 mm long, pubescent, calli absent, ciliate. Petals 14–30 mm long, pink or purplish, yellow at base, the outer surface hairy. Capsule not developed in Australia. Flowers Apr.–Jul.
VVP, GipP, DunT, Strz. Also naturalised WA, SA. Native to South Africa. Presumably a garden-escape. Uncommon, noted in greater Melbourne area, at Crib Point on the Mornington Peninsula, and Brit Brit in western Victoria.
Conn, B.J.; Jeanes, J.A.; Richards, P.G. (1999). Oxalidaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 4, Cornaceae to Asteraceae, pp. 207–218. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
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