Scientific/Botanical Name:
Genus: Oxalis
Specie:
Variety/Cultivar:
English Name:
Common Name:
False Shamrock,love plant, purple shamrock , sour grass, wood-sorrels,
Botanical Family:
Name in Latin: Oxalidaceae
Name in English: The Wood Sorrel Family
The Plant
Origin: genus occurs throughout most of the world, except for the polar areas;
Growth Habit: annual or perennial
Flower: five petals, which are usually fused at the base, and ten stamens. The petal color varies from white to pink, red or yellow; anthocyanins and xanthophylls may be present or absent but are generally not both present together in significant quantities, meaning that few wood-sorrels have bright orange flowers.
Blooming Period: spring/summer
Leaf: divided into three to ten or more obovate and top notched leaflets, arranged palmately with all the leaflets of roughly equal size. The majority of species have three leaflets; in these species, the leaves are superficially similar to those of some clovers
Usage:
house plant, containers, garden
Care and Handling
Soil: Use average potting soil with good drainage
Amount of water: allow the surface soil to dry out between waterings
Nutrition: all purpose fertilizer
Special handling: They require bright or direct sunlight supplemented with a cool indoor temperature. Oxalis does not require deadheading.
Special feature/remarks:
move in response to light levels, opening in high ambient light (in the day) and closing at low light levels (at night). This movement is not due to growth and is instead powered by changes in turgor pressure in cells at the base of the leaf. It is an example of photonasty. Consists of about 850 species.