Species · genus Oxalis · Oxalidaceae

Garden Pink-Sorrel

Oxalis latifolia Kunth

Also known as: Broadleaf Wood-sorrel · Fishtail Oxalis · Large-leaf Wood-sorrel · Pink Shamrock · Purple-flower Oxalis

Growth habit

tuberous geophyte

Native range

Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, California, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, New Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Puerto Rico, Texas, Trinidad-Tobago, Turks-Caicos Is., Venezuela, Windward Is.

Reference · O. latifolia

Cultivars of O. latifolia

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under O. latifolia yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Oxalis latifolia is a tuberous geophyte from a broad range across the Americas, storing water and energy in underground tubers that rot if kept wet. Give it bright, indirect light and a gritty, free-draining mix, watering only when the top inch or two of soil has dried out. The tubers also drive a natural dormancy: if foliage dies back, ease off water and let the plant rest rather than forcing it.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-14d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 14 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

10–27 °C

Soil mix

Loose, well-draining potting mix with some grit

Propagation

Separate the small bulbils and pot them up

Fertilizing

Balanced liquid feed monthly while in active growth

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Small pink to lilac flowers under good light

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs & humans

Oxalidaceae are rich in soluble oxalates (oxalic acid salts), which can irritate and, in quantity, affect calcium balance. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-14d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Garden Pink-Sorrel yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.