PALE PINK-SORREL

LILAC SORREL, PALE OXALIS

Oxalis incarnata

Wood-Sorrel Family [Oxalidaceae]  

month8may month8jun month8june month8jul month8july

status
statusZneophyte
flower
flower8bicolour
flower
flower8lilac
inner
inner8green
morph
morph8actino
petals
petalsZ5
stem
stem8round
toxicity
toxicityZlowish
sex
sexZbisexual

May 2007. Strines Resr, Sheffield. Photo: © RWD
Like Wood-Sorrel, this plant has single flowers atop single stalks.


May 2007. Strines Resr, Sheffield. Photo: © RWD
Unlike Wood-Sorrel, when the Pale Pink-Sorrel flower is open, the petals flare outwards. The flowers are a pale lilac, almost white. There are no yellow markings on the inner of the petals.


May 2007. Strines Resr, Sheffield. Photo: © RWD
Like Wood-Sorrel, the inner sepal tube is greenish.


May 2007. Strines Resr, Sheffield. Photo: © RWD
The trefoil leaves are a slightly different shape than those of Wood-Sorrel.


M9th May 2020, a garden, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
Sunlight makes all the difference; the true light-green colour of the three heart-shaped leaves is made more distinct in this photo. So too the pale-pink colour of the 5 petals, which are not symmetrical, some are, like Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor), more like ship propellers (like the flower slightly left of dead-centre at the top).


M9th May 2020, a garden, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
The flowers are 12 to 20mm across and solitary on one long, thin petiole (aka flower-stem). There are 10 pale-green stamens with tiny yellow anthers.

The are of the pin form of Heterostylous with the set of 5 stigmas set higher than the anthers. But like Purple Loosestrife, the two sets of anthers are at two different heights, but both sets well below the stigmas. Thus, in the tube nearer the opening there are 5 tiny, very closely-bunched stigmas, below that a ring of anthers and below that another ring of 5 anthers, the two sets alternately situated. The taller anthers (but seemingly not the shorter anthers) and the stigmas are shortly-hairy.

But whether there are thre three different configurations of these: stigmas, stamens, stamens; staments, stigma, stamens; and stamens, stamens, stigma - your Author does not know. There are the 3 different forms for Purple Loosestrife.



M9th May 2020, a garden, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
The sepal cup is cut almost to the base into 5 sepal teeth and curls outward near the tips. The faintly pink petals have numerous white stripes to about 2/5 ths the way to the end of the petals. [The bubbles at the base may be 'frog spit']


M9th May 2020, a garden, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
Birds-eye view of 2 sets of 5 stamens, an upper and a lower set. [The styles reach about twice as high as the tallest anthers and are well out of focus]


M9th May 2020, a garden, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
The whole frame of this photo is about 9.5mm from top to bottom. The sepal cup has had most of the cup and sepal teeth removed so the reader can see the sexual organs. Just one of the originally 5 sepal teeth remains at the back. There are usually 5 anthers lowest, one on the right has drooped off and those behind are hidden), another 5 anthers 1/3 rd the way up the styles (and just about peeking out above the opening of the sepal cup) plus normally 5 minute stigmas at the top which are well outside and above the sepal cup. The stigmas just about reach the end of the tubular opening of the 5 petals (which have also been removed otherwise you would see nothing!).

Your Author parted the stigmas at the top so that you could make them out, otherwise they are tightly bundled together all the way to their tips.


Easily confused with : Wood-Sorrel

No relation to : Sheep Sorrel, a plant of similar name but which belongs to the Dock and Knotweed Family.

There seems to be great confusion over the common name of this plant. The preferred option seems to be Pale Pink-Sorrel, but other books label it as Lilac Sorrel.

Grows near gardens, on walls and nearby banks. Like all Oxalis plants, it will contain some poisonous Oxalic Acid.


  Oxalis incarnata  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Oxalidaceae  

Distribution
 family8Wood-Sorrel family8Oxalidaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Oxalis
Oxalis
(Wood-sorrels)

PALE PINK-SORREL

LILAC SORREL, PALE OXALIS

Oxalis incarnata

Wood-Sorrel Family [Oxalidaceae]  

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