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Oxalis acetosella

Common name:	Wood Sorrel	Family:	Oxalidaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The leaves contain oxalic acid, which gives them their sharp flavour. Perfectly all right in small quantities, the leaves should not be eaten in large amounts since oxalic acid can bind up the body's supply of calcium leading to nutritional deficiency. The quantity of oxalic acid will be reduced if the leaves are cooked. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity should take especial caution if including this plant in their diet since it can aggravate their condition[238].
Range:	Europe, including Britain, from Iceland south and east to Spain, N. and C. Asia to Japan.
Habitat:	Moist woods, moorland and on shady rocks[187].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	O. acetosella auct. non[P] O. acetosella ssp. montana[B,P] O. acetosella var. rhodantha[B,P] O. montana[B,E,HORTIPLEX,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Aleluya [E], Alleluia [E], Common Wood Sorrel [L], Common Woodsorrel [FEIS], Kazayagi [E], Mountain Woodsorrel [P], Sleeping-beauty [B], Sorrel [E], Witte Klaverzuring [D], Wood Sorrel [E,H], Wood-sorrel [L], Woodsorrel [E], Woodsorrel,Common [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	acetosella = pre Linnaean name for common sorrel and other plants with acid leaves
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Geraniales. Wood-Sorrel family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Britain Britain(Wales) France Italy Spain Turkey Us(Amerindian) Us(Or)
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Western Australia, Tasmaina.

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.08m by 0.3m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 3 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from April to May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, flies and Cleistogomy (self-pollinating without flowers ever opening). The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, Deep Shade, Ground Cover.

Edible Uses

Curdling agent Flowers Leaves.

Leaves - raw or cooked[2, 7, 12, 37]. A delicious lemony flavour, the leaves make a refreshing, thirst-quenching munch and are also added to salads, soups, sauces etc[183]. This leaf should be used in moderation[4, 5, 9, 76], see the notes above on toxicity.
Flowers - raw. A decorative addition to salads[K].
The dried plant can be used as a curdling agent for plant milks[66].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Anodyne Antiscorbutic Astringent Diuretic Emmenagogue Expectorant Febrifuge Irritant Stomachic.

The fresh or dried leaves are anodyne, antiscorbutic, astringent, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, febrifuge, irritant and stomachic[4, 7, 9, 21]. A decoction is used in the treatment of fevers, both to quench the thirst and allay the fever[4]. Externally, the leaves are crushed and applied locally to dispel boils and abscesses, they also have an astringent affect on wounds[7]. When used internally, some caution is advised due to the oxalic acid content of the leaves[4], the plant is contra-indicated for people suffering from gastritis or a calculus condition[7].

Other Uses

Cleanser Ground cover.

The juice of the leaves removes iron mould stains from linen[6, 66, 115].
Plants can be grown as a ground cover in woodland or under the shade of shrubs[208]. They should be spaced about 45cm apart each way[208].

Cultivation details

Prefers moist shady conditions and a humus rich soil in shade or dappled sunlight[4, 9, 13, 27, 37, 200]. Dislikes very heavy and wet soils[17].
Plants are hardy to about -25° c[187].
A dainty woodland carpeter growing well in a woodland or wild garden[28, 200].
When well sited the plants can run aggressively and also self-sow[208]. The plant flowers in early spring, but does not produce much fertile seed at this time. Most of the fertile seed is produced from cleistogamous flowers during the summer[17].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant them out in late spring or early summer.
Division in spring. Very easy, larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found that it is better to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame until they are well established before planting them out in late spring or early summer.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Oxalis montana (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for oxalis acetosella (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

References for the family Oxalidaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[6] Mabey. R. Plants with a Purpose. Fontana 1979 ISBN 0-00-635555-2
Details on some of the useful wild plants of Britain. Poor on pictures but otherwise very good.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[12] Loewenfeld. C. and Back. P. Britain's Wild Larder. David and Charles ISBN 0-7153-7971-2
A handy pocket guide.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[27] Vilmorin. A. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press ISBN 0-89815-041-8
A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.

[28] Knight. F. P. Plants for Shade. Royal Horticultural Society. 1980 ISBN 0-900629-78-9
A small but informative booklet listing plants that can be grown in shady positions with a few cultivation details.

[37] Thompson. B. The Gardener's Assistant. Blackie and Son. 1878
Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the 19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little known species.

[66] Freethy. R. From Agar to Zenery. The Crowood Press 1985 ISBN 0-946284-51-2
Very readable, giving details on plant uses based on the authors own experiences.

[76] Cooper. M. and Johnson. A. Poisonous Plants in Britain and their Effects on Animals and Man. HMSO 1984 ISBN 0112425291
Concentrates mainly on the effects of poisonous plants to livestock.

[115] Johnson. C. P. The Useful Plants of Great Britain.
Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[187] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2. Pan Books 1991 ISBN 0-330-30936-9
Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[208] Thomas. G. S. Plants for Ground Cover J. M. Dent & Sons 1990 ISBN 0-460-12609-1
An excellent detailled book on the subject, very comprehensive.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

Readers Comments

Plant Rennet

Rich (pfaf@scs.leeds.ac.uk) Sat Apr 15 16:59:27 2000

According to VegSoc, in the past, fig leaves, melon, wild thistle and safflower have all supplied plant rennets for cheese making.

agsieve also has information about another plant source, using the juice from the plant as a coagulant.

Cross references: Plants: Asclepias eriocarpa, Carduus nutans, Carthamnus tinctorius, Cirsium arvense, Cirsium vulgare, Cynara cardunculus, Cynara scolymus, Drosera rotundifolia, Ficus carica, Galega officinalis, Galium verum, Fumaria officinalis, Pinguicula vulgaris, Pyrularia edulis , Rhus chinensis, Rumex acetosa, Urtica dioica, Withania somnifera.

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

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