Sheep Sorrel

(Rumex acetosella)

 

   

 

 

Color Photograph: NRCS Plants Database, U.S. Department of Agriculture

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

 

Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella 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 outward or flaring downward and outward. Upper leaves without petioles, sessile to the stem, but not clasping it. Lower leaves with long petioles. Leaves with a bitter, acid taste. Plant 4 to 12 inches in height.

Distribution: Throughout most of North America.

Habitat: Sheep Sorrel is found in disturbed areas such as fields, along roadsides, and empty lots. The species seems to prefer poor soils.

Flowering period: June to October.

Similar Species: Garden Sorrel is a larger species. The leaf lobes point downward and do not point laterally or flair outward. The flower spikes of Garden Sorrel are larger and more heavily branched.

Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc. 2003. All rights reserved.