Yellow woodsorrel – Oxalis stricta
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EmailOxalis stricta L.
Oxalidaceae (Woodsorrel family)
MI Status
Native
Life cycle
Low-growing annual or simple perennial.
Leaves
Cotyledons are rounded to oblong. Gray-green leaves are alternate, compound and cloverlike, with three heart-shaped leaflets that attach at the pointed ends. Long-stalked leaves have smooth surfaces, but they are fringed with hair along the margins.
Stems
Low-growing, prostrate to erect stems with minimal branching at the base, up to 20 inches tall. Plants spread by long, slender rhizomes.
Flowers and fruit
Yellow flowers with five petals are found in long-stalked clusters. Fruit are ridged, hairy, cylinder-shaped capsules with pointed tips that range from 0.5 to 1 inch in length. The capsules explosively eject small seeds with a sticky coating up to several feet away. Seeds are mostly brown, ridged, oval and flattened.
Reproduction
Seeds and rhizomes.
Similar weeds
Creeping woodsorrel
(Oxalis corniculata L.)
Differs by having a more prostrate growth, lack of rhizomes, presence of aggressive stolons and foliage often more purplish green.
