Once upon a time, whenever I mentioned that I wanted to grow oxalis (C? jiāng? C m: o), everyone's reaction is generally "isn't that the little yellow flower that can be seen everywhere on the roadside?" What kind of seeds are there? "

Now, Oxalis has become a net red in the horticultural world. With its small plant shape, bright and changeable colors, Oxalis can dress the square inch of balcony window sill into a gorgeous sea of flowers (such as this →Yolee's window sill "making the sea"). Rich varieties and portable bulbs can meet the requirements of variety collectors (of course, players who are determined to collect all kinds may be crazy). Next, let's meet the new star of horticulture-Oxalis family.

Oxalis flattening

The so-called Oxalis by players is the general name of plants of Oxalidaceae. This is a huge family with about 270 original species. Although they are distributed in most parts of the world, their base camps are far away in southern Africa and South America. There are more than 200 species of oxalis in South Africa, about 270 varieties, and there may be many species that have not been found and named.

Oxalis hibiscus (pink flower) is in full bloom in South Africa | Figure from the network

Manager of the flower garden in Huntington Botanical Garden, USA? Michael Vassar collected and selected some species that are easy to grow and non-invasive. As a staff member of a botanical garden, he recorded the collection location and marked the collection number for each Oxalis. We often see "MVXXXX" after the scientific name of Oxalis, which is the collection number of Mr. Michael Vassar. Plants with the same collection number are all obtained by asexual reproduction of the original plant.

Oxalis pale yellow' MV5885'

Oxalis pale yellow' Papaya MV5576'

Oxalis is mostly herbaceous for many years, and a few species are small shrubs (Oxalis gigantea, a giant Oxalis native to South America, can reach 1.7 m). Most species have corms underground, which vary greatly in size and shape, usually in the form of stone or water drops. After each growing season, many new bulbs will grow from underground stolons, which are the main planting materials.

Two-color ice cream oxalis bulb

Compared with rapid and efficient asexual reproduction, Oxalis is much "high cold" in sexual reproduction. Many species of oxalis (almost all African species) have a typical three-type style phenomenon. Simply put, their stamens are divided into three layers, two stamens and one pistil. As for which layer the pistil is on, different individuals of the same species will have differences, and only if the pistil is not pollinated on the same layer can it bear fruit, so as to avoid the decline of offspring caused by self-pollination. In addition, the chromosome base and ploidy of Oxalis alkekengi are very diverse: the chromosome base is varied, with 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10,1and 12, and polyploidy is common, with blunt leaves. The ploidy of O. obtusa ranges from 2n to 8n or even above. Coupled with the phenomenon of abnormal style, it is difficult for some varieties to bear fruit even if they are planted together or even pollinated artificially (especially polyploid varieties). The success rate of interspecific hybridization of oxalis oxalis is also relatively low, which may be due to the three-type style, chromosome base and ploidy, which greatly limit its sexual reproduction. Nevertheless, many excellent intraspecific and interspecific hybrids have been cultivated through the tireless efforts of many breeders and players.

According to growth habits, Oxalis can be divided into three categories:

Oxalis articulates, which grows all year round, such as Oxalis articulates, which is common in green belts and has small pink flowers all year round, and Oxalis triangularis, which has purple leaves? subsp.? papilionacea? . This kind of oxalis is widely managed like weeds, with a long flowering period, but it is not favored by family gardening because of its small flower shape and monotonous color, and is more used as a greening plant;

Oxalis articulata

Oxalis rubra

Oxalis alkekengi L. planted in spring: It grows and blooms in spring and summer, and the aboveground parts die in autumn and winter, dormant in the form of bulbs, come and go with every season. Among this kind of oxalis, there is the familiar' iron cross' four-leaf Oxalis tetraphylla? 'Iron Cross'。 But generally speaking, there are fewer kinds.

Iron Cross' Oxalis | Figure from the network

Iron Cross' Oxalis |? Graph self-network

The most diverse and popular among players is autumn-planted bulbous oxalis. Their bulbs germinate in autumn, and bloom bright flowers from late autumn to next spring, and spend the hot summer in the form of bulbs.

Next, let's get to know these autumn sorrel plants that bloom in winter. The pictures are all from the Oxalis exhibition in Shanghai Botanical Garden. Thank you for sharing the exhibits. I'm here to offer flowers to the Buddha for readers.

Let's take a look at Oxalis obtusa, a online celebrity in online celebrity. In Little Karoo, South Africa, every spring and September, countless blooming oxalis blunt leaves dye the endless wasteland into gorgeous apricot. Oxalis obtusifolia is very rich in colors, including pink, apricot yellow, orange, brick red, yellow and white, covering almost all warm colors, and there are many kinds of polychromatic colors. Their flowers have bright yellow throats and often have dark veins on their petals. Oxalis obtusifolia has so many flowers that it can even cover the leaves. They bloom mainly in spring.

Oxalis obtusifolia' Liangfen'

Oxalis obtusifolia' blush'

If you feel that the color of Oxalis obtusifolia is too intense, you can look at Oxalis purpurea with softer color. Oxalis hibiscus has large plants and large flowers, with purple, violet, pink, salmon, yellow or white, and yellow throat.

Oxalis hibiscus

? Oxalis hibiscus' ivory white'

There are also two distinctive purple leaf varieties: Oxalis purpurea 'Garnet'? With Oxalis purpurea? Nigrescens', they have deep purple leaves and burgundy flowers. In addition, oxalis hibiscus also has a variety of double petals. Oxalis hibiscus has a long flowering period, which lasts from autumn to spring.

Hibiscus purpurea

There is also a "sprout" line in oxalis, which is Oxalis glabra. Compared with the previous two kinds of oxalis, Taozhihui is much smaller, but people win by more. This fast-growing sorrel can quickly grow from a small bulb into a large clump, which is called a "pot-bursting artifact". Their flowers are pink in MengMeng, with a little light pink from white to rose red. The amount of flowers is huge, and the flowering period is autumn and winter.

Oxalis alkekengi

Oxalis alkekengi

? Oxalis alkekengi' Pink White'

A species very similar to the peach blossom is called Oxalis pusilla. This kind of plant is short and grows slowly. Its flowers are white with deep purple spots at the base of petals. Because the shapes of flowers and leaves are very similar to those of the peach blossom, they were once considered as a variant of the peach blossom. However, there is a great difference in bulb shape between the two.

Oxalis Pusla

Speaking of small, there is a species that engraves it in the scientific name. This is Oxalis minuta, a miniature oxalis. . Their plants are very short and compact, with round leaves crowded together. Lavender flowers are bigger and more conspicuous than plants. Small plants with relatively huge flowers are the attraction of autumn planting oxalis bulbifera.

Oxalis miniaturus

After reading the soft pink color, let's look at the brilliant yellow color. There are many yellow oxalis. Besides hibiscus and blunt leaves, several species also have yellow flowers, such as Oxalis pes-caprae and Oxalis luteola. Pale yellow Oxalis plants are low and compact, with dark purple leaves on the reverse side and purple spots on the front side, and pale yellow flowers in autumn and winter. Their bulbs are large and rich in mucus. Oxalis alkekengi has a long petiole and many purple spots on its leaves, so it is also called "yellow pockmarked". Several bright yellow flowers gather at the top of tall flower stems. Oxalis flavescens has a thick fleshy root system, and the bulbs are buried deeply. It is said that this species is invasive and easy to escape into the wild in the Mediterranean climate zone.

Huangmazi

Oxalis pale yellow' MV5885'

Oxalis pubescens

Speaking of oxalis of yellow flowers, I have to mention Oxalis namaquana of Namaquana? . This oxalis, as well as many other autumn-planted oxalis, is home to Namaqualand in northwest South Africa. This is a dry place, but it doesn't stop it from becoming a holy place for gardening lovers-countless annual herbs, low shrubs, bulbs and succulents are here, and every year from September to 1 1 month, countless flowers dress up the wasteland into a huge garden.

Oxalis namaquana

There are relatively few kinds of multicolored oxalis, and the most famous one is Oxalis versicolor. The opposite side of the petal of this species is red. When it is not fully open, or on the reverse side of the already open flower, red and white stripes can be seen alternately, much like the patterns on alpine toffee or some cone ice cream, so it is also called candycane sorrel and "two-color ice cream". The single flower is not big, but it has a lot of flowers, which is a very popular species.

Two-color ice cream oxalis

In addition to colorful flowers, the leaves of Oxalis also have high diversity, and some of them are of high ornamental value. Most species of oxalis leaves are in the shape of "clover" in everyone's mind, but there are also many species with more or less leaflets.

Graph self-network

Oxalis flava has palmately compound leaves consisting of 2 to 12 leaflets. There are many types of this species, the most common one is called "yellow claw", and its leaves are "small claws" composed of 5 to 7 long and narrow leaflets. Another variety with light pink flowers has wider and shorter leaflets, similar to lupine leaves. Sometimes this type is considered as an independent species: Oxalis lupinifolia. Oxalis fabaefolia, a species similar to Oxalis fabaefolia (sometimes treated as a variety of the former, called? Oxalis flava? var.? Fabaefolia) has fewer leaflets, with only 2 to 3 leaflets on a leaf axis, much like the leaves of broad beans. They all bloom in autumn.

Oxalis umbellata

? Oxalis corymbosa' Huanghua'

Another oxalis with a large number of leaflets is Oxalis cathara. Compared with yellow claws, the leaflets of this species are more slender and flat, like umbrella bones. This plant has white or yellow flowers. As for Oxalis argentea, needless to say, it is tentacled.

? Oxalis Qiu Zi claw

Oxalis' Jinbei' claw

There are many lobules, and of course there are few lobules. For example, Oxalis simplex, a oxalis from all of my heart, has heart-shaped leaves and small white flowers. Probably the kind that "Xiao Qingxin" people like.

Oxalis all of my heart

As mentioned before, Oxalis in South Africa is native to arid areas (some players think that the method of planting Oxalis can be applied to the method of planting succulents). Therefore, many oxalis have thick fleshy roots, which are used to store water. There are also some species, such as Oxalis inaequalis, which has fleshy leaves. Oxalis herreae, on the other hand, uses a specialized drumstick petiole to store water.

Oxalis clavata

Let's look at a kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder-friendly Oxalis palmifrons. The compound leaves of this species, like cattail leaf fans, are neatly inlaid and arranged from the inside out, which is very symmetrical. Although it can bloom in white, it rarely blooms under cultivation conditions, and it is one of the few species of oxalis mainly for leaf viewing.

Oxalis palmatum

Say it neatly, then say it casually. Most oxalis is clustered, with short or almost no stems on the ground. However, Oxalis hirta, a long-haired oxalis, has a long upright aerial stem and a short petiole, which is probably the most unlike oxalis. The flowers of Oxalis longifolia are larger, lavender, magenta or white. Bloom in autumn. Their bulbs are also big, like chestnuts.

Oxalis longifolia' Rose'

? Oxalis longifolia' Rose'

The above are some common species of Oxalis in China. Of course, readers can buy more than these species or obtain them through other channels. The above materials can be used for reference. If readers have a balcony and windowsill that is sunny in winter, they might as well plant some. The premise is that the light must be sufficient, because many species of oxalis can only bloom under the condition of strong light. If the temperature is above 0℃, there is generally no problem. The matrix can refer to other bulbs. I won't go into details about the specific planting methods, but I'll talk about them later. I hope everyone can experience the magic and beauty of nature and life in planting, thank you.

Oxalis farinosa

Oxalis obliquus

Oxalis argentea

All of my heart is blooming in the silver yellow glaze.