Japanese name: フヨウカタバミ（芙蓉片喰） Scientific name:Oxalis purpurea
[Overview]
A perennial 5–20 cm tall, cultivated as an ornamental.
It has an egg-shaped bulb underground.
The leaves grow in tufts from the bulb and consist of 3 leaflets.
The leaflets are round, and the tip is hardly notched.
The undersides of the leaves and the leaf stalks are sparsely hairy.
The leaf stalks are often reddish.
A single flower is borne at the tip of a flower stalk about 5–20 cm tall.
The flower is 5-petaled, 3 cm across, with a yellow center; the flower color is purplish red, pink, white and so on.
It hardly ever sets fruit.
[History]
Introduced as an ornamental in the middle of the Meiji period, it has escaped from cultivation in various places.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by dividing the bulbs.
In a sunny, well-drained place it is easy to grow and multiplies readily.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
It is tolerant of dryness.
Fertilizer is not particularly necessary.
There are no particular pests or diseases.
