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Oxalis violacea

Common name:	Violet Wood Sorrel	Family:	Oxalidaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	43, 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:	Eastern N. America - New York to Wisconsin, south to Florida.
Habitat:	Woods, shaded slopes, gravelly banks and prairies[43]. Dry sandy or clay soils[159].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Ionoxalis violacea[B,P] O. violacea var. trichophora[B,P] Sassia tinctoria[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Violet Wood Sorrel [L], Violet Wood-sorrel [B], Violet Woodsorrel [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	violacea = violet
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Geraniales. Wood-Sorrel family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	India Us Us(Nm)
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Western Australia, Tasmaina.

Physical Characteristics

Bulb growing to 0.25m. It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from May to August, and the seeds ripen from July to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

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

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge.

Edible Uses

Drink Flowers Leaves Root.

Leaves - raw or cooked[2, 105, 159, 161]. The acid salty leaves are eaten raw in salads and sandwiches or cooked as a potherb[183].Use in moderation, see notes at top of sheet.
Flowers - raw[105, 161]. An attractive and tasty garnish for salads[183].
Root - raw or cooked[105, 161, 183, 257].
A lemon-flavoured drink is made from the leaves[159].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Anthelmintic Antiemetic Blood purifier Cancer Salve.

The plant is anthelmintic, antiemetic, blood purifier, cancer and salve[257]. A cold infusion is used to stop a person vomiting[257]. An infusion can be used as a blood purifier, it is said to be a treatment in the early stages of cancer[257]. An infusion of the plant is drunk and also used as a wash in treating children with hookworm[257]. An infusion of the leaves, mixed with oil, can be used as a salve on sores[257].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Easily grown in a moisture-retentive humus-rich soil in shade or dappled sunlight[200]. Succeeds in dry soils[159].
Grows well in a wild or woodland garden[200].

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. 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

[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.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

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

[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.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[159] McPherson. A. and S. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press 1977 ISBN 0-253-28925-4
A nice pocket guide to this region of America.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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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.
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