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Portola Valley California - Conservation Committee Tip of the Month Sour grass or Bermuda buttercup 04 March 2024 ( news )
Portola Valley , state California ( By Press Release office)
Mar 04,2024
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Conservation Committee Tip of the Month
Oxalis pes - capre
Sour grass or Bermuda buttercup
Oxalis per caprae
is a native of South Africa that escaped the garden and is now a common weed in home gardens , pastures and public lands throughout California . including Portola Valley .
It has yellow flowers and clover - like leaves . It spreads by seed and through the formation of little bulb - lets deep in the soil , which will break off even when you try to get all the roots . Its dense foliage effectively crowds out any native seedlings that try to emerge and once it is established it can be very hard to remove .
Small scale infestations should be taken care of by hand or through “hula - hoeing” , although it will take a few years to get them all .
https://youtu . be/qnb31wpnD1Q?si=QUGfWsUfEzbL8nMJ
Remove as much of the plant as possible as the flower stalks are beginning to emerge , the bulb - lets that are left behind become depleted of energy and are unable to regrow as robustly the following year . Over time this starves the bulbs of energy and they will die .
Large - scale infestations are very difficult to manage . The oxalates in Oxalis can be poisonous to livestock so grazing isn’t an option . Soil solarization or sheet - mulching may provide some control but in practice , chemical control may be required .
For more information , see the following:
https://wric . ucdavis . edu/information/natural%20areas/wr_O/Oxalis . pdf
http://ipm . ucanr . edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7444 . html
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