Oxalis corniculata L.
Family
Oxalidaceae
Synonyms
Oxalis repens Thunb, Oxalis javanica Blume.
Vernacular Names
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Malaysia |
Sikap dada (Peninsular). |
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English |
Indian sorrel, creeping wood-sorrel, procumbent yellow sorrel. |
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Indonesia |
Daun asem kecil (Sumatra), calingcing (Sundanese), semangnen (Javanese). |
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Papua New Guinea |
Kokavu (Kami, Eastern Highlands), akler (New Britain). |
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Philippines |
Taingan-daga (Tagalog), marasiksik (Iloko), daraisig (Bikol). |
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Singapore |
Sikap dada. |
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Myanmar |
Hmô-gyin. |
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Cambodia |
Chantoe phnom kok. |
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Laos |
Som ten kalm. |
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Thailand |
Phak waen (Central), som sangka (Chiang Mai), som din (Mae Hong Son). |
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Vietnam |
Me d[aas]t, chua me ba ch[if]a, toan t[uw][ow]ng th[ar]o. |
Geographical Distributions
Oxalis corniculata is a cosmopolitan weed of unknown origin, although a southern European origin has been postulated. It occurs throughout Southeast Asia, but is scarce in Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sulawesi.
Description
Oxalis corniculata is a perennial, creeping or ascending small herb, with stems measure up to 50 cm long and rooting at the nodes. The main root is fibrous. In old plants, it sometimes develops into a thickened and woody rootstock. There are several stems from the main root. They are branching and hairy.
The leaves are arranged alternately, digitately 3-foliolate, with petiole 1-5.5(-10) cm long while the stipules are small and measure up to 3 mm long. The leaflets are broadly obcordate to elliptical-obcordate, measuring 4-20(-25) mm x 5-18(-25) mm and hairy to silky beneath.
The inflorescence is cymose to pseudo-umbellate, and with a 1-6(-8)-flowered stalk. There are two to several bracts which are subopposite to whorled. The flowers are bisexual, radially symmetrical, 5-merous, usually homostylous with mid-styled form and rarely with long-styled form. The pedicel is up to 20 mm long, articulate at base and beneath the sepal. The sepals are imbricate, short connate at base, lance-shaped, measuring 2-6 mm x 0.5-2 mm and sparsely hairy to silky. The petals are contorted, coherent above the claw, spoon-shaped-oblong to spoon-shaped-lance-shaped, measuring 3.5-10 mm x 1-7 mm, hairless and yellow. There are 10 stamens with 5 longer and 5 shorter filaments joined at the base. The shorter is rarely with rudimentary anthers. The ovary is superior, 5-celled, with 5 styles and free with small cylindrical stigmas.
The fruit is linear-cylindrical but sometimes ellipsoid. It is a pentagonal capsule, measuring 9-20(-24) mm x 2-4 mm, hairy, green, opening by longitudinal loculicidal slits and many-seeded. The seeds are flattened-ovoid, measure about 1 mm long and red-brown. The seed coat is with about 3 regular rows of 7-10 transversally connected rows of ridges. The aril is bivalved, membranous and white. Seedling is with epigeal germination, with leafy cotyledons, wedge-shaped base and rounded apex. They are hairless. The hypocotyl is elongated while epicotyl is absent.
Ecology / Cultivation
Oxalis corniculata is a common weed in gardens, fields, grassland, in roadsides, on river banks and on walls, up to 3000 m altitude. It thrives best in warm, moist, freely drained and fertile soils with a pH of 3.5-6.5. It is commonly found in vegetables, groundnut, maize, soya bean and root crops in the Philippines, and is a weed in tea and rice in Indonesia. In temperate regions, O. corniculata is mainly a problem in greenhouses, but sometimes escapes to establish locally outdoor populations. Its prostrate habit helps to protect it from being mowed in lawns.
Line Drawing / Photograph
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1) Safety
References
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Plant Resources of South-East Asia No.12(1): Medicinal and poisonous plants 1.
