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Oxalis corniculata

Kōki‘i

Yellow Woodsorrel

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Image:	Leaves, flower and fruit	39KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Yellow Woodsorrel, Procumbent Yellow Sorrel, Creeping Yellow Oxalis, Creeping Oxalis, Creeping Lady's Sorrel, Sour Grass, Clover Sorrel

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Kōki‘i (RR AT MK MT AK), Kōkī‘i (MG); Other Polynesian - Kihikihi (TON), ‘Ii (SAM), ‘Ihi (HAW)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Cosmopolitan, except Pacific Islands

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Polynesian, Naturalised; Land, lowlands - inland valleys

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Medicine,; Weed - minor

KEY FEATURES: Creeping herb. STEMS to 30cm from small tap root. LEAVES stalk to 8cm, erect, ~hairy; LEAFLETS 3, to 20x20mm, heartshaped attached at apex, green, hairless above, hairy below. FLOWERS stalk to 10cm, terminal cluster 2-5 flowers; 1cmØ, yellow. CAPSULES cylindrical, to 20mm. SEEDS released explosively, brown, 1mmØ.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Oxalis exilis has solitary flowers (vs. 2-4) and is smaller - leaf-stalk to 1.5cm (vs. 8cm), and leaflets to 5mm (vs. to 15mm).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++++	++++	++++	++	+++	++++	-		-

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Oxalis corniculata Linnaeus
SYNONYMS: Oxalis repens [incl. GW]; Oxalis corniculata var. repens; Oxalis corniculata var. corniculata

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ROSIDAE; Geraniales; OXALIDACEAE

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: Sorrel was derived from the Old French 'surele' meaning 'sour'. It refers to various groups of sour plants, and 'wood-sorrel' refers specifically to members of the genus Oxalis. (OED)

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.1002 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.473 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.805 Hortus 3rd
p.824 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.3/625 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.275 I Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.61 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.370d Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM03a, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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