Common Wood-sorrel is a plant from the genus Oxalis, common in most of Europe and parts of Asia. The binomial name is Oxalis acetosella, because of its sour taste. In much of its range it is the only member of its genus and hence simply known as "the" wood-sorrel. It is also known as Alleluia, due to the fact that it blossoms between Easter and Pentecost, when the Psalms which end with Hallelujah were sung.
The plant has heart-shaped leaves, fold...
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Common Wood-sorrel is a plant from the genus Oxalis, common in most of Europe and parts of Asia. The binomial name is Oxalis acetosella, because of its sour taste. In much of its range it is the only member of its genus and hence simply known as "the" wood-sorrel. It is also known as Alleluia, due to the fact that it blossoms between Easter and Pentecost, when the Psalms which end with Hallelujah were sung.
The plant has heart-shaped leaves, folded through the middle, that occur in groups of three atop a reddish brown stalk. It flowers for a few months during the spring, with small white flowers with pink streaks. Red or violet flowers also occur rarely. During the night or when it rains both flowers and leaves contract. Non-showy, cleistogamous flowers are produced during the summer.
Wood sorrel has been eaten by humans for millennia. In Dr. James Duke's "Handbook of Edible Weeds," he notes that the Kiowa Indian tribe chewed wood sorrel to alleviate thirst on long trips, that the...
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