Flora-Fauna

Oxalis pes-caprae L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 434 (1753).

(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, pp. 433–434, Pl. CLXXX, 2; 1970)

• Life-form & habit: Stemless, finely hairy herb, 10–30 cm tall, with fleshy leaf stalks and flowering scapes.

• Leaves: Numerous leaves arise from the stock, each bearing three heart-shaped leaflets with the notch at the outer end.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Pale-yellow flowers, 2–4 cm across, form an umbel; initially upright, they later spread or turn downwards. The green calyx has blunt, linear lobes and is much shorter than the slightly notched petals.

• Fruit: Mouterde reports no local fruiting and describes vegetative multiplication by bulbils at the leaf bases.

• Phenology: Flowering December–April.

• Habitat & elevation: Cultivated ground and roadsides; abundant along the coast, becoming sporadic above 300 m.

• Lebanese distribution: Throughout the coastal region, with records from Antoura, Deir el Qamar and Abey; Qornet Chehwan is also recorded in the site observations. Mouterde had not observed it in the Beqaa.

• Syrian distribution: Damascus. Mouterde considered coastal occurrence highly probable but did not report a definite coastal record.

• Native range: Cape Provinces, Namibia.

• Introduced into: Afghanistan, Alabama, Albania, Algeria, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Azores, Baleares, Bermuda, California, Canary Is., Chile Central, Chile South, China Southeast, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, East Aegean Is., Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Florida, France, Great Britain, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Mexico Northwest, Morocco, New Zealand North, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Portugal, Sardegna, Sicilia, Sinai, Spain, St.Helena, Tasmania, Tunisia, Türkiye, Uruguay, West Himalaya.