Garden Sorrel

(Rumex acetosa)

 

   

 

 

Color drawing: C. A. M. Lindman (1901-1905), Bilder ur Nordens Flora.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Garden Sorrel (Rumex acetosa L.)

Alien: Native of Europe.

Identification: Flowers small, initially green, but turning yellow-red. Flowers arranged in a terminal, multiply branched, stalk (panicle). Individual flowers loosely clustered. Stem with grooves and swollen nodes where the leaf petioles join the stem. Leaves narrow, arrowhead-shaped with bottom projections pointing downward. Upper leaves without petioles and bases clasping the stem. Lower leaves with long petioles. Leaves with a bitter, acid taste. Plant 6 to 24 inches in height.

Distribution: Across Canada and southward into Pennsylvania and New York in the east to Minnesota in the west. Also occurs in the Pacific Northwest.

Habitat: Garden Sorrel is found in disturbed sites such as fields and along roadsides.

Flowering period: June to September.

Similar Species: Sheep Sorrel is a similar species. However the leaf lobes either flair outward or point outward. The leaves of Sheep Sorrel are smaller and the flower spikes are smaller and sparser.

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