Biology:Oxalis alpina

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Short description: Species of flowering plant

Oxalis alpina
Oxalis alpina 21163149.jpg
Scientific classification edit
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. 1.0 1.1 "Oxalis alpina" (in en). https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/165985-Oxalis-alpina. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 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. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 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. PMID 29938082. 
  4. "Vascular Plants of the Gila Wilderness-- Oxalis metcalfei". https://wnmu.edu/academic/nspages/gilaflora/oxalis_alpina.html. 
  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. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3994362. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 "SEINet Portal Network - Oxalis alpina". https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/taxa/index.php?taxon=196&clid=3479. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "Oxalis alpina - Alpine woodsorrel". https://cals.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php?genus=Oxalis&species=alpina. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Kearney, Thomas (1960) (in English). Arizona Flora. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. pp. 487–488. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 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" (in en). Journal of Evolutionary Biology 25 (3): 574–583. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02455.x. ISSN 1420-9101. PMID 22268844. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02455.x. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 "Oxalis alpina, Alpine Woodsorrel, Southwest Desert Flora". http://southwestdesertflora.com/WebsiteFolders/All_Species/Oxalidaceae/Oxalis%20alpina,%20Alpine%20Woodsorrel.html. 
  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. PMID 22186183. 
  12. 12.0 12.1 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)" (in en). Plant Biology 18 (1): 104–110. doi:10.1111/plb.12340. PMID 25924801. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/plb.12340. 
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 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" (in en). Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23 (10): 2163–2175. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02075.x. PMID 20840309. 
  14. "Oxalis alpina - Alpine woodsorrel". February 16, 2020. https://cals.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php?genus=Oxalis&species=alpina. 
  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. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3798558. 

Wikidata ☰ Q15346367 entry