Large Yellow Wood Sorrel, Great Yellow Wood-Sorrel - Oxalis grandis
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Oxalis grandis - Large Yellow Wood Sorrel, Great Yellow Wood-Sorrel. Oxalis is a large genus of around 500 to 700 species worldwide (most of the species in the family Oxalidaceae are in the Oxalis genus.) Identification can be difficult, and classification is changing and confusing. There are around 36 North American species, with at least one Oxalis species in every state except Alaska.
Oxalis grandis - Large Yellow Wood Sorrel - is an eastern species, found in rich soils from Pennsylvania south to Georgia, west to Wisconsin through Louisiana. It is one of the yellow-flowered, caulescent Wood Sorrels (Oxalis section Corniculatae). The red marks in the throat reduce the number of candidate species for the plants shown here, helping with identification. O. texana (TX, LA, AR) and O. macrantha (limestone glades of central KY, central TN, and AL) are eliminated, as these plants were found in rich forest soil of northeastern Georgia.
Found in:
AL, DC, GA, IN, KY, MD, MS, NC, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV, GS | 
Distribution of Oxalis grandis in the United States and Canada:
Map courtesy of The Biota of North America Program.
Map color key
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| | Site: Steel Trap Knob, Lumpkin County, GA Date: 2016-May-19 | Photographer: Gerald C. Williamson
Nikon D7000
Tamron SP 90MM f/2.8 AF Macro | | Oxalis grandis has rather large leaves and flowers, especially compared to the Wood Sorrels that are common in yards. The five yellow petals are up to about .75 inches long, and the base usually but not always, will have red yellow marks at their bases. O. dillenii (Southern Yellow Wood Sorrel) does not have these red marks. | | 
| | Site: Steel Trap Knob, Lumpkin County, GA Date: 2016-May-19 | Photographer: Gerald C Williamson
Nikon D7000 | | The inflorescence of Oxalis grandis is a cyme - the terminal flower blooms first. It may be a regular, irregular, or umbellate cyme. Weakley's keys imply non-umbellate for O. grandis, but FNA includes that in the characteristics, and my photos of these plants show both umbellate and irregular inflorescences. | | Click on the photo for a larger image
| | Site: Steel Trap Knob, Lumpkin County, GA Date: 2016-May-19 | Photographer: Gerald C Williamson
Nikon D7000 | | Large Yellow Wood Sorrel (Oxalis grandis) grows usually between 1 and 2 feet tall, generally taller than the similar species of Oxalis. The flowers are generally held above the level of the leaves, while similar O. illinoensis will have flowers down among the leaves. Note that the leaves are cauline (on the stem) and alternate. | | Click on the photo for a larger image
| | Site: Steel Trap Knob, Lumpkin County, GA Date: 2016-May-19 | Photographer: Gerald C Williamson
Nikon D7000 | | The leaves of Oxalis grandis are up to 2 inches wide, like those of the similar O. illinoensis. However, those of O. grandis usually have a reddish-brown margin; O. illinoensis leaf margin is green. The shoulders of the leaflet are rounded in O. grandis, as here, whereas they are somewhat flattened in O. illinoensis. Note the irregular cyme structure of the inflorescence in the left of this photo. | | Click on the photo for a larger image
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References used for identification and information:
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