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Oxalis deppei

Oxalis deppei: Plant
Photo by Ken Fern. High resolution version

Common name:	Iron Cross Plant	Family:	Oxalidaceae
Author:	Loddiges.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The leaves contain oxalic acid, which gives them their sharp flavour. Perfectly all right in small quantities, the leaves should not be eaten in large amounts since oxalic acid can bind up the body's supply of calcium leading to nutritional deficiency. The quantity of oxalic acid will be reduced if the leaves are cooked. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity should take especial caution if including this plant in their diet since it can aggravate their condition[238].
Range:	Southern N. America - Mexico. Occasionally established in Europe.
Habitat:	Not known
Edibility Rating (1-5):	4	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	O. esculenta[H] O. tetraphylla[H]
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Geraniales. Wood-Sorrel family
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Western Australia, Tasmaina.

Physical Characteristics

Bulb growing to 0.3m by 0.1m . It is hardy to zone 8 and is frost tender. It is in flower from June to November. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 4/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Flowers; Leaves; Root.

Leaves and flowers - raw or cooked[2, 37, 183]. A delicious lemony flavour, the leaves are tender and fairly free of fibres even when they get older[K]. Both the leaves and the flowers make a very refreshing and thirst-quenching munch in the garden, they also make an excellent flavouring in salads[K]. The leaves are available from June to October and the flowers from July to October, or even later in mild autumns[K]. Use in moderation, see notes at top of sheet.
Root - raw or cooked[1, 2, 27, 37, 183]. The roots are up to 10cm long and 3cm wide at the top, they are tender and juicy but usually insipid[K]. Occasionally the root has a pleasant acid flavour, we have yet to find out what causes the difference[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, preferring a sandy soil in a warm dry position[1, 27, 37]. It dislikes dry or heavy soils[37]. Dislikes lime[37]. Prefers a southerly aspect[37].
This species is only hardy outdoors in the milder areas of Britain, tolerating temperatures down to about -5°c or perhaps a bit lower if the soil is very well-drained. The bulbs are easily harvested in late autumn, however, and can be stored overwinter in a cool frost free place, replanting them in the spring[K]. In milder winter areas a good mulch is usually sufficient to see the bulbs through the winter and they will then normally be more productive of leaves and flowers in the following year. Plants have survived the winter for several years without a mulch on our trial grounds in &ndndndnd[K].
A very ornamental plant, flowering freely all summer[1, K]. It was formerly cultivated in Mexico for its edible tuber[46] (this may be a mistaken entry that should have referred to O. tuberosa. Whilst the root of this plant is edible it is neither productive nor very flavourful. The leaves and the flowers are far superior[K]).
This species is closely related to and probably part of O. tetraphylla[200], differing only in its sessile bulbils and truncate leaves[50].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant them out in late spring or early summer. Our plants have never produced seed.
Division in autumn, harvest the bulbs and replant in the spring. They usually increase very freely.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Oxalidaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[27] Vilmorin. A. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press ISBN 0-89815-041-8
A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.

[37] Thompson. B. The Gardener's Assistant. Blackie and Son. 1878
Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the 19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little known species.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Oxalis+deppei
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Oxalis+deppei

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.