Triangle purple shamrock is a foliage and flowering plant suitable for growing in pots at home.

Triangle purple shamrock is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Oxalis in the family Oxalidaceae, also called purple shamrock and triangle shamrock. It originated in South America and is now a very popular flowering houseplant. Its underground tubers look like small light bulbs, and the most eye-catching part above ground is its three inverted-triangle purplish-red leaves. They spread open during the day and fold together in pairs and droop at night, looking from a distance like a group of small butterflies resting on the branches, which is why it is also called butterfly shamrock. Its flowering period is fairly long, and when the climate is suitable it can send up flower stalks one after another, bearing small pale pink five-petaled flowers.

The ornamental value of this plant lies mainly in its leaf color. The purple leaves stand out very prominently among common green plants, and with the small pink flowers they look fresh and elegant. Its plant form is short and compact, so it is suitable both for growing alone in a pot on a windowsill or desk, and for planting in a courtyard as an edging plant, or for combining with other green plants in a mixed container to enrich the color layers.

For care, triangle purple shamrock likes ample light. In bright light the leaves are a deeper purple and the plant form is more compact; if kept in too dark a place for a long time, the leaf stalks tend to stretch out and the leaf color tends to fade. The soil should be loose, airy and well drained. You can wait until the surface soil is dry before watering, and avoid keeping the potting soil wet for a long time, otherwise the underground tubers rot easily. It is not very cold-tolerant. In winter, when temperatures are low, the above-ground parts wither and the plant enters dormancy. At this time watering should be reduced, and the tubers can be left in the potting soil or taken out and stored in a warm, dry place, then given normal care again after the weather warms up in spring.

Two phenomena are fairly common in daily care, and both are normal: first, the leaves fold at night and open during the day, which is its sleep movement, so there is no need to worry; second, in the intense heat of summer or the severe cold of winter the plant enters a brief dormancy and looks lifeless, but as long as you reduce water and fertilizer and wait patiently, it will sprout again when the weather is suitable. Propagation is mostly done by division or by planting the small bulbs separately. The operation is simple and the survival rate is fairly high, and one plant can often gradually produce many more pots.