Oxalis micrantha Bertero ex Savi, Oxalidaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: tufted yellow woodsorrel

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Small usually more or less tufted annual ordinarily only a few cm. tall, in varying degree hirsute and somewhat glandular, especially the nearly filiform divaricate pedicels (these to about a cm. long) of the laxly branched several to many-flowered cymes; petioles to 8 cm. long, about half as long as the peduncles, the broadly obcordate rather deeply emarginate leaflets sometimes 14 mm. long, 15 mm. wide, often smaller; bracts caducous, 1-2 mm. long; sepals often rubescent below and marginally, nearly linear, acute, 3-4 mm. long, sometimes equaled by the spathulate yellow petals; seeds 1-many in each cell"  (MacBride, 1949, 13(3/2):576).

Habitat/ecology:  In Peru (native), "open mixed formation, 2,200 meters"  (MacBride, 1949, 13(3/2):576).  "In Chile this species grows in the following environmental conditions:  Low altitude, interior valleys.  Somewhat dry areas where the drought may last 3-5 months, precipitations of 400-800 mm. are concentrated in winter.  Fully exposed to the sun, level areas or slopes facing north"  (Chileflora).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Argentina, Chile, Peru  (MacBride, 1949, 13(3/2):576).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 461, 465, 556)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 461, 465, 556)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 461, 465, 556) Voucher cited: Danton I(5/327)1674
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Morro El Verdugo	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 556)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	Macbride, J. Francis (1936) (p. 13(3/2):576)

Additional information:
Photos and other information from Chileflora.

Additional online information about Oxalis micrantha is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Oxalis micrantha as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Oxalis micrantha may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Macbride, J. Francis. 1936. Flora of Peru. Field Museum of Natural History, Botanical Series, Vol. XIII. 1936-1971, 6 parts.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.