Oxalis frutescens aka Shrubby Woodsorrel

Oxalis frutescens belongs to the wood sorrel family, Oxalidaceae. It is a perennial, so it lives for years. Plants For A Future calls it shrubby woodsorrel. It grows across much of tropical America. Useful Tropical Plants lists northern Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, and Ecuador. It lists Colombia, Venezuela, and the Guianas too. Its range runs through Central America to northern Mexico. It also takes in the Caribbean. Plants For A Future gives a smaller Andean range.

This plant can have soft growth or lasting woody stems. Useful Tropical Plants calls it a shrub. It gives a height of about 2.5 feet (0.75 metres). Its fuller account gives up to 3.3 feet (1 metre). These heights describe a small plant whose form can vary. The sources give no clear spread for plants in gardens. They give no facts about leaf shape or bark. Plants For A Future says flowers have male and female organs. Insects pollinate them. The source does not say when they bloom. Neither source describes the fruit.

Wild plants grow on thin soils beside rivers. They grow under tropical trees that shed their leaves too. They also grow in dry scrub. Useful Tropical Plants suggests sandy soil and a warm, dry site. Plants For A Future lists sand and loam that drain well. It gives a soil range from slightly acid to slightly alkaline. It also says the plant needs sun, not shade. But it warns that these growing notes concern the genus. They do not show whether this species lives through British winters. Neither source gives a hardiness zone or names pest problems.

People gather this plant from the wild for food. They eat its leaves raw or cooked. Oxalic acid gives the leaves their sour taste. Both sources say to eat only small amounts. Large amounts can leave the body with less calcium to use. Cooking cuts the amount of oxalic acid in the leaves. Both sources warn people prone to kidney stones to take care. They also flag gout, arthritis, rheumatism, and excess stomach acid.

Plants For A Future lists garden beds as a place to grow it. Neither source states a clear role for it as an ornamental. Both report no known use as medicine or other practical use. These gaps do not prove that the plant is safe.