Description:

• Stemless or caulescent herbs, mostly with bulbs, sometimes with contractile roots; sometimes annual and with fibrous roots
• Leaves alternate or basal, palmately or pinnately compound, rarely 1-foliolate; leaflets often folded together at night; with or without stipules
• Inflorescence cymose, sometimes umbellate or peduncles 1-flowered
• Flowers bisexual, regular, usually with tristyly, rarely cleistogamous
• Sepals 5, free, imbricate or occasionally valvate
• Petals 5, clawed, mostly weakly united at base, imbricate or valvate, often contorted
• Stamens 10 in 2 whorls; filaments slightly connate at base; anthers 2-thecous, dehiscing inwards with longitudinal slits
• Ovary superior, 5-locular, 5-lobed, with 1-many ovules per locule on axile placentas; styles (1-)5, free; stigmas terminal, capitate, penicillate
• Fruit a 5-lobed capsule, ejecting seeds explosively
• Seeds 1-many, with or without endosperm

Nomenclature:

• Oxalidaceae
  • Sonder: 312 (1860)
  • Exell: 149 (1963)
  • Schreiber: 1 (1966)
  • Thulin & Moggi: 193 (1993)

Distribution & Notes:

• Global: Genera ± 7, species ± 900, Africa, Madagascar, Asia and America
• Southern Africa: Genera 2, species ± 270

References:

• EXELL, 1963. Oxalidaceae. Flora zambesiaca 2
• SCHREIBER, A. 1966. Prodromus einer Flora von Südwestafrika 63
• SONDER, O.W. 1860. Oxalidaceae. Flora capensis 1
• THULIN, M. & MOGGI, G. 1993. Oxalidaceae. Flora of Somalia 1

Resources:

• Key to Oxalidaceae genera

• Oxalidaceae genera: