Oxalis alpina
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Oxalidales
Family: Oxalidaceae
Genus: Oxalis
Species:
O. alpina
Binomial name
Oxalis alpina
(Rose) Rose ex R.Knuth

Oxalis alpina is a herbaceous perennial plant also known by its common name alpine woodsorrel.[1] It is a species belonging to the genus Oxalis.[2] O. alpina is found in North America and Central America from Guatemala to the southwestern United States.[3]

Taxonomy

Different classifications of Oxalis alpina exist. It is a species in the genus Oxalis,[1] but some also classify it as being part of the Ionoxalis section in the genus Oxalis.[2] Synonyms for Oxalis alpina include Ionoxalis alpina Rose, Ionoxalis metcalfei Small, Ionoxalis monticola Small, Oxalis metcalfei (Small) Knuth., Oxalis bulbosa A. Nelson, and Oxalis monticola Small.[4] The species was first described by Reinhard Gustav Paul Knuth and Joseph Nelson Rose in 1919.[2][5]

Etymology

The name Oxalis comes from the Greek word "oxys," meaning sharp or sour, which is in reference to its oxalic acid content that gives it a sour flavour.[6] The specific epithet alpina means "alpine," reflecting its habitat range.[6]

Description

Oxalis alpina is a perennial herb that grows each year from an underground bulb, and can usually be found from July to September.[7][8] Oxalis alpina is tetraploid.[3] Plants are conspicuous and can have 1-7 flowers which are arranged in an umbel inflorescence.[7][9] Leaves are green and clover-like with three distinct heart-shaped lobes.[10] Oxalis alpina is morphologically similar to Oxalis violacea, but can be differentiated by observing the orange projections at sepal tips: Oxalis alpina has two distinct orange projections, while in Oxalis violacea the projections are fused.[7]

Flowers from Oxalis alpina are perfect and exhibit a superior ovary, ten stamens, and one pistil composed of five carpels.[8] Fruits from Oxalis alpina are dehiscent capsules which disperse seeds by exploding at maturation, projecting seeds into the immediate area.[3] Oxalis alpina flowers are heterostylous and exhibit either tristyly or distyly depending on the population.[9] Distylous populations likely evolved from tristylous ancestors, and pollen transfer can still occur between tristylous and distylous O. alpina flowers.[11]

Range

Occurrences of Oxalis alpina, have been recorded from Guatemala to the southwestern United States, including the sky island region of southeastern Arizona and northern Mexico.[12][3] It is known to be somewhat rare in the United States, with few populations throughout New Mexico and only found in the eastern 2/3 of Arizona, as well as a few instances in Navajo County.[10] Different populations are known to have varying reproduction systems, with isolated climate conditions occurring since the Pleistocene facilitating these differences even between adjacent mountain ranges within Arizona.[12][13]

Habitat

Oxalis alpina can be found at high altitudes in temperate deciduous, pine-oak, and temperate coniferous forests.[13][7] Populations in Arizona are recorded as being located at elevations of 5500 to 9000 feet.[8]Oxalis alpina usually grows among rocks in moist environments.[14]

Interspecies relationships

Oxalis alpina is pollinated by solitary bees (Heterosaurus bakeri and Heterosaurus neomexicanus), dipterans, wasps and lepidoptera.[13] In Mexico and the southern United States the bulbs of Oxalis alpina and other Oxalis species have been found to be a primary food source for Montezuma quail during the winter months.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 "Oxalis alpina". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  2. 1 2 3 Oxalis alpina Rose ex Knuth in GBIF Secretariat (2019). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2021-01-03.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Pérez‐Alquicira, Jessica; Weller, Stephen G.; Domínguez, César A.; Molina‐Freaner, Francisco E.; Tsyusko, Olga V. (2018-04-27). "Different patterns of colonization of Oxalis alpina in the Sky Islands of the Sonoran desert via pollen and seed flow". Ecology and Evolution. 8 (11): 5661–5673. doi:10.1002/ece3.4096. ISSN 2045-7758. PMC 6010862. PMID 29938082.
  4. ↑ "Vascular Plants of the Gila Wilderness-- Oxalis metcalfei". wnmu.edu. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  5. ↑ Knuth, R. (1919-05-15). "Oxalidaceae americanae novae". Notizblatt des Königlichen botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin. 7 (67): 289–318. doi:10.2307/3994362. JSTOR 3994362.
  6. 1 2 "SEINet Portal Network - Oxalis alpina". swbiodiversity.org. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Oxalis alpina - Alpine woodsorrel". Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  8. 1 2 3 Kearney, Thomas (1960). Arizona Flora. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. pp. 487–488.
  9. 1 2 BAENA-DíAZ, F.; Fornoni, J.; Sosenski, P.; Molina-Freaner, F. E.; Weller, S. G.; Pérez-Ishiwara, R.; Domínguez, C. A. (2012). "Changes in reciprocal herkogamy during the tristyly–distyly transition in Oxalis alpina increase efficiency in pollen transfer". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 25 (3): 574–583. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02455.x. ISSN 1420-9101. PMID 22268844. S2CID 11678267.
  10. 1 2 "Oxalis alpina, Alpine Woodsorrel, Southwest Desert Flora". southwestdesertflora.com. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  11. ↑ Gardner, Andrew G.; Vaio, Magdalena; Guerra, Marcelo; Emshwiller, Eve (2012). "Diversification of the American bulb-bearing Oxalis (Oxalidaceae): Dispersal to North America and modification of the tristylous breeding system". American Journal of Botany. 99 (1): 152–164. doi:10.3732/ajb.1100152. ISSN 0002-9122. JSTOR 41415347. PMID 22186183.
  12. 1 2 Weller, S. G.; Sakai, A. K.; Gray, T.; Weber, J. J.; Tsyusko, O. V.; Domínguez, C. A.; Fornoni, J.; Molina-Freaner, F. E. (January 2016). Byers, D. (ed.). "Variation in heterostylous breeding systems in neighbouring populations of Oxalis alpina (Oxalidaceae)". Plant Biology. 18 (1): 104–110. doi:10.1111/plb.12340. PMID 25924801.
  13. 1 2 3 Pérez-Alquicira, J.; Molina-Freaner, F. E.; Piñero, D.; Weller, S. G.; Martínez-Meyer, E.; Rozas, J.; Domínguez, C. A. (October 2010). "The role of historical factors and natural selection in the evolution of breeding systems of Oxalis alpina in the Sonoran desert 'Sky Islands': Evolution of breeding systems of O. alpina". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 23 (10): 2163–2175. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02075.x. PMID 20840309.
  14. ↑ "Oxalis alpina - Alpine woodsorrel". cals.arizona.edu. February 16, 2020. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  15. ↑ Bishop, Richard A.; Hungerford, Charles R. (1965). "Seasonal Food Selection of Arizona Mearns Quail". The Journal of Wildlife Management. 29 (4): 813–819. doi:10.2307/3798558. ISSN 0022-541X. JSTOR 3798558.
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