Synonyms:

• (=) Oxalis crenata Jacq.

Common names:

• New Zealand-yam  (Source: Mansf Ency) - English
• oxalide tubéreuse  (Source: Dict Rehm) - French
• truffette acide  (Source: Dict Rehm) - French
• Oka  (Source: Dict Rehm) - German
• peruanischer Sauerklee  (Source: Zander Ency) - German
• azedinha  (Source: pers. comm.) - Portuguese (Brazil)
• occa  (Source: Names Soukup) - Quichua (Peru)
• aleluya tuberosa  (Source: Dict Rehm) - Spanish
• cubio  (Source: Mansf Ency) - Spanish
• oca  (Source: World Econ Pl) - Spanish (Peru)
• oka  (Source: Kulturvaxtdatabas) - Swedish

Economic Importance:

• Human food: starch (fide Diversity 10:32. 1994)
• Human food: vegetable (fide Diversity 10:32. 1994)

Distributional Range:

Cultivated

Northern America

• Mexico

Southern America

• NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Venezuela [Merida, Sucre]
• WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Bolivia, [Cochabamba, La Paz] Colombia, [Cauca, Cundinamarca] Ecuador, [Bolivar, Loja, Napo, Tungurahua] Peru [Apurimac, Cajamarca, Cusco, Huancavelica, Huanuco, Junin, La Libertad, Lima, Piura, Puno]
• SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina, [Jujuy, Salta, Tucuman] Chile (n.)

References:

1. Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource on www.skud.info). 2012 (Kulturvaxtdatabas)
2. Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45. 1993 (L Peru)
3. Erhardt, W. et al. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen. 2008 (Zander Ency)
4. Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. (pers. comm.)
5. Hanelt, P., ed. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6. 2001 (Mansf Ency)
6. Hernández-Lauzardo, A. N. et al. 2004. Isolation and partial characterization of Mexican Oxalis tuberosa starch Stärke 56:357-363.
7. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares. (F ConoSur)
8. Jørgensen, P. M. & S. León-Yánez, eds. Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 75. 1999 (L Ecuador)
9. Lourteig, A. 2000. Oxalis L. subgéneros Monoxalis (Small) Lourt., Oxalis y Trifidus Lourt. (Bradea) 7:254.
10. Pissard, A. et al. 2006. Genetic diversity of the Andean tuber-bearing species, oca (Oxalis tuberosa Mol.), investigated by inter-simple sequence repeats (Genome) 49:8-16.
11. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994 (Dict Rehm)
12. Soukup, J. Vocabulario de los nombres vulgares de la flora peruana. (Names Soukup)
13. Zandstra, I. 1994. Japanese, Swiss, Germans collaborate with CIP to save endangered biodiversity of Andean roots and tubers (Diversity) 10:31-33.

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN-Taxonomy).
National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL: http://germoplasma.iniaf.gob.bo/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=26219. Accessed 7 junio 2026.