Creeping Wood Sorrel

(Oxalis corniculata)

Creeping Wood Sorrel (Oxalis corniculata L.)

Alien: Native of Europe.

Identification: Plant lying flat with a long, creeping stem from which the leaf and flower stalks arise. Flowers yellow, with 5 petals in an open rosette. Seedpods elongate, borne on long pedicels, the pedicels commonly bent. Leaves with the astringent flavor of oxalic acid. Leaves, green, cloverlike with three lobes, the lobes each with an apical notch and a fold line through the center. Well developed stipules present at the base of the leaf petioles.

Distribution: Throughout most of North America.

Habitat: Creeping Wood Sorrel is found in disturbed habitats such as lawns, gardens, empty lots, and along roadsides.

Flowering period: April to November.

Similar Species: Creeping Wood Sorrel can be difficult to separate from Yellow Wood Sorrel. Yellow Wood Sorrel is a generally upright plant and the leaf and flower stems do not arise from a trailing stem.