Oxalis comosa

Oxalis comosa, in Afrikaans commonly known as bobbejaansuring (baboon sorrel), is a deciduous perennial reaching from 20 cm to 40 cm in height.

The sometimes purple stems branch, growing dense whorls of leaves at spaced nodes. The leaf petioles are from 2 cm to 8 cm long. The trifoliolate leaves have deeply notched leaflet tips. The plant is palatable to game and stock.

Solitary flowers on longish stalks are borne above the leaves. The five square or flat-tipped petals spread, appearing slightly skewed, as if rotating might be a habit. The flower colour is several shades of pale pink-rose with some pale yellow in the throat where the veins may be visible and in the corolla tube. This tube is about 4 mm long, while the petal lobes spread to about 3 cm in diameter.

The species is a Northern Cape endemic found in Namaqualand and the southern Richtersveld from Kamieskroon to around Steinkopf, often among the Namaqua Klipkoppe. The photo was taken at Naries in August.

The plants grow in shaded, rocky places in sandy soil. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Williamson, 2010; Le Roux, et al, 2005; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).