Herb with stems developed only when plants growing in shade; bulbs ovoid, 5–15 mm long, often fusiform, deeply pitted and irregularly angled, tunics tough, reddish- to blackish-brown; bulbils formed in axils of scales along rhizome. Leaves basal, 3-(rarely 5-)foliolate; leaflets subsessile, variable, often dimorphic, obcordate to linear-emarginate, 4–10(–25) mm long, 3–7(–25) mm wide, shallowly bilobed, green, sometimes purplish below, glabrous to pubescent on both faces, margins ciliate, sinus to one-eighth leaflet length, lobes with rounded apices 2–5(–12) mm apart; petioles 1.5–5.5 cm long, sparsely hairy; stipules inconspicuous, membranous, to c. 1.5 mm long, abruptly tapering into petiole. Inflorescences basal, 1-flowered; peduncles longer than leaves, sparsely hairy. Sepals oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 4–8 mm long, glabrous to pilose, base with some retrorse hairs, margins ciliate, rarely with apical calli. Petals 10–15(–25) mm long, pale yellow to pale salmon-pink with fine dark red veins, usually a deeper yellow in throat. Capsule not developed in Australia. Flowers mainly mainly Aug.-Oct.
VVP, GipP, OtP, Gold, HSF. Currently known from Australia only in Victoria. Native to South Africa. Possibly a garden-escape, collected from northern and eastern Melbourne suburbs (e.g. Reservoir, Eltham, South Yarra), Geelong area, and north-central Victoria. Occuring in Themeda triandra dominated grassland on basalt-derived soil and dryish woodland on shallow soils (e.g. with Eucalyptus leucoxylon, E. melliodora, E. microcarpa. Locally common on shallow soils of road verges, even extending to the bitumen pavement.
Across its natural distribution, the flower colour in Oxalis obtusa varies from pink, reddish, yellow, pale yellow to orange. The plants in Victoria mostly have pale yellow to pale orange-fawn flowers.
