Plant: perennial herb; BULBS 0.8-2 cm long, often with up to 20 bulblets

Leaves: 4-30 cm tall; leaflets 3, 4-27 mm long, 4-38 mm wide

INFLORESCENCE: 1-7-flowered; pedicels less than 5 cm long

Flowers: perfect, the petals clawed, connate at base; stamens 10; pistil 5-carpelled; styles 5; corollas blue, lavender, pink, or white, to 27 mm long

Fruit: FRUITS ellipsoid, 5-12 mm longfleshy explosive capsules; SEEDS arillate, 1-1.5 mm long

Misc: Open, moist, often rocky places in deciduous, pine-oak, or coniferous forests; 1700-3200 m (5000-9600 ft); Jul-Sep

REFERENCES: Denton, Melinda. 1998 Oxalidaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. 30(2): 115.

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Herbaceous perennial with creeping, thick and woody rootstocks, caulescent or acaulescent, the sap acidic, scapes 10-20 cm tall.

Leaves: Digitately compound with 3 leaflets, wedge-shaped, sparsely to copiously strigose, the leaves 4-30 cm.

Flowers: Blue, white, purple or pink, perfect, regular, to 27 mm long, with 5 petals, the petals clawed, connate at the base, sepals 5, stamens 10, the filaments united at the base, unequal, with 5 longer than the other

Fruits: Capsules ellipsoid, 5-12 mm long, dehiscent, 5-celled.

Ecology: Found moist soils in open or rocky areas in deciduous, pine-oak, or coniferous forests, from 5,000-9,500 ft (1524-2896 m); flowering July-September.

Notes: The easiest key to this species is the 3 leaflets, differentiating it from the similarly colored Oxalis decaphylla, which has 5-12 leaflets. Much more minor characteristics of the seeds distinguish it from other similar species, necessitating a collection.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Oxalis is from Greek oxys for sharp, sour, while alpina means alpine.

Synonyms: Many, see Tropicos

Editor: LCrumbacher, 2011