Oxalis thompsoniae
B.J.Conn & P.G.Richards Fluffy-fruit Wood-sorrelHerb with stems prostrate or decumbent, to 45 cm long, glabrescent to moderately antrorse-hairy, sometimes patent septate hairs also present; taproot poorly developed; bulbils absent. Leaves cauline, 3-foliolate; leaflets subsessile, cuneate-obovate, 3–16 mm long, 5–20 mm wide, bilobed, glaucous, glabrous to pubescent above, often more densely hairy below, margins ciliate, sinus to c. one-third leaflet length, lobes oblong to slightly obovate, apices rounded, 3–6(–10) mm apart; petioles (4–)15–50(–90) cm long, with simple antrorse hairs; stipules conspicuous, 1–3 mm long, apex rounded, ciliate. Inflorescences axillary, flowers 1–4(–6)-flowered, held below, at or a little above leaf level; peduncles mostly shorter than leaves, sparsely antrorse-hairy; pedicels usually deflexed in fruit (but capsules erect). Sepals oblong, 2–4 mm long, often ciliate. Petals (4–)8–12 mm long, yellow. Capsule 5–16 mm long, 1.9–2.5(–3) mm diam., moderate to broad cylindrical, usually densely retrorse-hairy, also longer patent septate hairs present; seeds (1.3–)1.5–1.8 mm long, very compressed, smooth or shallowly ribbed, uniformly coloured, ribs without greyish or whitish lines or blotches. Flowers winter–summer.
MuM, Wim, VVP, MSB, MuF, GipP, OtP, WaP, NIS, EGL, EGU, HSF, HNF. Also SA, Qld, NSW (including Lord Howe Island). New Zealand, New Guinea. A weedy species (but not known from countries beyond the western South Pacific region and so presumed native), mainly from disturbed situations in urban areas with an isolated collection from Neds Corner Station, where growing in lawn at the homestead, but otherwise poorly known and seldom collected in Victoria.
Likely to be more common in Victoria than herbarium collections indicate, but probably overlooked due to confusion with Oxalis corniculata. Readily distinguished from O. corniculata on account of its antrorsely hairy stems, the capsule indumentum which is a mixture of densely retrorse hairs with longer patent septate hairs (septate hairs very rarely present in Oxalis corniculata), and the smooth and shallowly ribbed seeds.
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.
Spinning
