COMMON YELLOW WOODSORREL,
Oxalis stricta L. 1, plant in flower; 2, flower;
3, fiower bud; 4, leaves; 5, seed. Perennial
or annual, reproducing by seed. Plants low, bushy, 4 to 18 inches
(10 to 45 cm) tall. Stems weak, branched at the base, hairy; may
root at the joints. Leaves with long petioles, sour-tasting, divided
into 3 heart-shaped leaflets. Flowers yellow, 5-petaled, occurring
in clusters. Seed pods 1/2 to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.5 cm) long,
slender, 5-ridged, pointed. Seeds small, flat, brown, thrown from
the parent plant when seed pods burst. Found in pastures, lawns,
and waste places, often becoming a troublesome lawn and garden pest. Several
other species of Oxalis, differing in detail from this, are readily recognized
as woodsorrels from this figure.