Is your salad too bland? When you’re outside and hot, do you want a light snack with a bit of zing? Try a sorrel. Remember to positively identify any plant you are going to eat, and don’t forage close to roads or areas that might be contaminated by chemicals. See all cautions in the January blog.
WOOD SORREL – genus Oxalis
There are quite a few varieties of wood sorrel in the US, with the yellow wood sorrel (Oxalis stricta) being one of the most common in my neck of the woods. This small perennial grows in many habitats such as open woods to lawns, fields, and gardens. It can grow up to 9”, but I usually see it around 6. Multiple stems may grow from a single root and have alternate leaves, although the leaves are usually so bunched together that they may appear almost opposite. The 3 heart-shaped leaflets that make up a leaf are solid green and have a crease at the midvein. The stems are usually smooth, but may occasionally be slightly hairy. When flowering, the yellow flowers stick up above the leaves and are replaced by long seed pods that stand upright resembling okra pods or green bananas (see picture below).
I find that this plant usually grows singly or in widely scattered clusters and can be easily spotted when in bloom. The whole above ground plant may be eaten and has a sour flavor, like sour candy. Kids especially like this and will usually eat as many as you give them. Growing up, I enjoyed this plant and called it rabbit clover. It can be cooked (usually in soups) or eaten raw. It’s usually eaten raw as a snack or in salads because it’s not usually found in large quantities. There is also a violet wood sorrel (Oxalis violacea) that looks similar except it has dark pink or purplish flowers and is more often found in open woods. This plant also has bulbs which are edible. Look a likes include white clover (Trifolium repens) and black medic. Clover leaves look similar but are oval and not heart shaped. They also have a whitish V or crescent in the leaf (see picture below).
Black medic (Medicago lupulina) also has 3 leaflets, but they are oval or round (the small plants surrounding sheep sorrel in the pictures below). The flowers, while yellow, are a round ball and look like small yellow clover flowers.
SHEEP SORREL – Rumex acetosella
This perennial plant has a rosette of basal leaves and spreads by sending up shoots from the roots. The leaves (which are the edible part of the plant) are green but can have a reddish tinge to them, and (to me) look like an odd arrowhead in shape. They are oval shaped with a somewhat pointed tip and winglike projections towards the base of the leaf (picture above). Not all leaves may have these projections. The flower stalks can have red or greenish (very small) flowers, and the fruits are red. From a distance, these flowers or fruit can look like a reddish haze in a sea of green. The alternate leaves on the stalks will be thinner and smaller than those on the ground. This plant needs partial to full sun and will be found in fields, lawns, and gardens. Due to the fact that it spreads by the roots, this plant is often found in larger clumps where large quantities of leaves may be gathered. This is why it is often cooked in soups although it is also eaten raw and has a sour or tangy flavor. I don’t know of any look a likes.
Though both of these plants have the common name of sorrel, they are not in the same family. Despite this, the common denominator is lots of oxalic acid which creates the sour or tart flavor in the plants. Because of this, those with arthritis, gout, or prone to kidney stones should not consume large amounts, if at all. Most of the acid, however, can be removed by boiling and as much as 50% can be removed by steaming which may allow the aforementioned to eat it.
Happy snacking!
About Me:
John Miller loves the outdoors and enjoys learning about all the things the Creator has made. He enjoys hunting, fishing, backpacking, and finding new moths. While looking into prepping in 2008, he realized that developing skills such as knowing wild edibles and bushcraft skills were more important than storing food. Ever since then he has been learning and slowly working on the skills of these two disciplines. He currently lives in Cleveland, TN with his wife Rachel and six children.
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