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May 14, 2008: Fremontodendron californicum
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Aloe plicatilis
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Brunnera macrophylla
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Philadelphus delavayi
May 8, 2008 : Oxalis tuberosa
Plant Family / Families: Oxalidaceae
Scientific Name and Author: Oxalis tuberosa Savign.
Connor continues to be responsible for assembling this series:
The second of three entries featuring plants from the GFU for Underutilized species exhibits Oxalis tuberosa of the Oxalidaceae. Thanks Hannes and Paul! Photo courtesy of the International Potato Centre (CIP).
Oca is a starchy edible tuber that was domesticated in the Andes in South America. It is at least as hardy as the potato and grown in a similar way but it is not as susceptible to pests and diseases as potatoes.
When freshly harvested, the tubers have a pleasant acidic flavour. They are consumed cooked or baked. They can also be eaten raw in small quantities. Exposed to sunlight for a few days, the tubers lose some of their acidity and become more pleasant to eat.
Oca can be prepared, like most tuberous vegetables, by being boiled, baked or fried. In the Andes, it can be part of stews and soups, served like potatoes or served as a sweet. Oca is eaten raw in Mexico with salt, lemon and hot pepper.
Oca forms tubers only at a daylength of under 13-14 hours. Outside of its native area, such as in higher latitudes, autumn frosts may kill the plant before the tubers are fully developed. Under such conditions, commercially relevant yields are hard to achieve.
Projects to improve poor rural families' quality of life through the management and commercialization of oca have been implemented in various places. One example is the village of Puno in southeastern Peru where infant mortality and illiteracy rate are almost twice the national average. Mismanagement of organic garbage and loss of biodiversity has created serious problems with environmental deterioration, and families have little access to employment and income.
The project aims to contribute to the improvement of environmental conditions and increase the incomes of rural families in the Lake Titicaca area by encouraging farmers to produce oca. The project is targeting a new beneficiary group, Puno's indigenous people, by training them on how to make marmalade from oca. The project will also produce 40 metric tons of organic fertilizer from manure and crop residue, manage roughly 10 hectares of oca, and establish six rural micro enterprises.
Some Producers/Retailers/Distributors
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at May 8, 2008 12:00 AM
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Comments
Posted by: Sue in Bremerton WA at May 8, 2008 12:49 AM
What a wonderful picture. I had no idea that they came in such a variety of shapes and colours. Does this affect their flavour at all? I've only ever seen or eaten the pink nobbly ones - which are delicious - but I would love it if someone in New Zealand started to market such a variety as you display.
Posted by: Elizabeth Revell at May 8, 2008 2:04 AM
Beautiful! And the only Oxalis I'm really familiar with are the Shamrocks (being born on St. Patrick's Day). But the corms look like miniature versions of the tubers shown above. I'd be interested in seeing the leafy portions of these.
Posted by: Deb at May 8, 2008 5:13 AM
I chew on wild oxalis stems occasionally (O. stricta) ... they are tart! So I found it interesting that there's a truly edible Oxalis product
Posted by: Hollis at May 8, 2008 5:45 AM
These are so beautiful! I'm also only familiar with the 4-leaved oxalis which grows in our garden & woodland (London,UK), must admit I didn't even know they had small corms. I'll be reading up about that for the near future, it's truly whetted my appetite (in both senses!). Our garden oxalis always gets a rust fungus & dies so maybe never has a chance to develop a corm??
Thanks so much for the wonderful BPotD!
Posted by: ingrid at May 8, 2008 6:29 AM
Here is a great book online that has a lot of information about many andean crops, including oca.
Posted by: Sunny at May 8, 2008 6:57 AM
Here are several shots of Oca from markets in southern Peru:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericinsf/138832803/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericinsf/137153423/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericinsf/137199899/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericinsf/137153718/
Oca is also a common root vegetable in New Zealand, where it's called a Yam.
Posted by: Eric in SF at May 8, 2008 8:09 AM
Oops, meant 3-leaved, of course!!
Posted by: ingrid at May 8, 2008 8:16 AM
Gorgeous critters!
Do these tubers contain oxalic acid and how does that effect their nutritional value?
Posted by: George L. in Vermont 
at May 8, 2008 9:16 AM
i also know of the flowering
plant oxalis my mother had
one on her window sill
perhaps there are markets
here in the states
i live in florida whole foods
might know of it
always interesting around here
Posted by: elizabeth a airhart at May 8, 2008 9:35 AM
I'd love to try to grow this here in BC - but I haven't found tubers for sale. Does anyone know where they are available? Heres a US co that sells to US only: http://www.horizonherbs.com/product.asp?specific=2081
Posted by: Eva at May 8, 2008 10:58 AM
Is the acid, Oxalic? If so be careful.
Posted by: Old Ari at May 8, 2008 1:43 PM
"I wonder if they are at all related to the regular potato as us Westerners know them" - no, they're not. Oca is in the family Oxalidaceae, Potato in the family Solanaceae.
"I'd love to try to grow this here in BC - but I haven't found tubers for sale" - you'd presumably run into the high latitude difficulties mentioned in the account above: "Outside of its native area, such as in higher latitudes, autumn frosts may kill the plant before the tubers are fully developed. Under such conditions, commercially relevant yields are hard to achieve".
Posted by: Michael F at May 8, 2008 3:22 PM
Well this is amazing!! I love this plant. I also knew it as a shamrock plant. Just learned last year it's real name Oxalis. My daughter has a purple leaved and lavender flowered one that she has had for years in her home. I have had the green leaved white flower variety and the purple one but both died off last year. (I had them outside). I did notice the little corms in the pot. Awww isn't mother nature grand?
Posted by: Bonita M. at May 8, 2008 10:16 PM
Here in New Zealand we call the pictured corms "yams". I know that true yams are different, but that's marketing for you. They're a lot bigger than the small corms on ornamental flowering oxalis, quite a few varieties of which are a pest weed in our gardens (north of the Waikato, anyway, thanks to our warm winters). Some varieties are very non-spreading, others (the pests) are prolific producers of tiny pup bulblets which break off and lurk in the soil when their parent is weeded out ... Mind you, when they flower at least they're pretty weeds!
Posted by: Elizabeth Revell at May 8, 2008 11:10 PM
I've grown them for several years. I purchased my base stock from Nichols Garden Nursery in Albany, Oregon.
Cooked, their taste is hard to distinguish from "baby" potatoes, but with a more delicate texture.
I think oxalic acid breaks down during cooking, as there was no detectable flavor in the cooked tubers; however, it is probably worth a little research before eating it raw (I haven't tried it that way myself).
Posted by: Denis at May 9, 2008 6:36 AM
I grow them within their native range - tuber colour is a matter of cultivar and doesn't seem to affect flavour any.
I've eaten them raw, but only after exposing them to sunlight for a couple of days. They are very tasty with salt. The oxalic acid content of the tubers is very low to begin with, and the sunlight seems to break this down. Certainly cooking does.
I wouldn't actually be too concerned with the oxalic acid content in Oca, since both Spinach and Rhubarb contain more.
Posted by: Lorax at May 9, 2008 1:31 PM
Connor I do thank you for all the great photographs and the information to go along with it all. I enjoy the photography and I am learning more and more each day.
Please keep up the good work. You are appreciated for all you do in educating the public.
Thank you,
Margaret-Rae
Posted by: Margaret-Rae Davis at May 9, 2008 6:30 PM
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
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They are beautiful. I wonder if they are at all related to the regular potato as us Westerners know them. One time a lady gave me some Jerusalem artichokes that weren't too bad. She grew them instead of potatos, just for fun.
Good article... Thanks so much.