And even though they share names, wood sorrel is not botanically related to sheep sorrel or garden sorrel, which are genus Rumex rather than Oxalis, a reminder that common names aren’t always reliable when referring to plants.
What is another name for a wood sorrel?
Wood Sorrel: Also known as the sour grass and shamrock weed, the wood sorrel is anything but lucky. Adding to the array of colour are white flowered wood sorrel, foxgloves, stitchworts and buttercups.
Are there different types of sorrel?
There are three major varieties to know: broad leaf, French, and red-veined sorrel. Broad leaf sorrel has slender, arrow-shaped leaves. French or Buckler leaf sorrel has small, bell-shaped leaves, while red-veined sorrel has a slender, tapered leaf with the namesake screaming red veins throughout.
What types of sorrel are edible?
The two most popular varieties of sorrel for veggie gardeners are English (garden) sorrel (Rumex acetosa) and French sorrel (Rumex scutatus). Both have a citrusy taste that makes them excellent for cooking.
What is wood sorrel good for?
Wood sorrel is a plant. The whole flowering plant is used to make medicine. Despite safety concerns, people take wood sorrel for liver and digestive disorders, a condition caused by lack of vitamin C (scurvy), wounds, and swollen gums.
Can wood sorrel be eaten?
Yellow wood sorrel is also known as sour grass because its leaves have a mildly sour taste. In fact, every part o this flower, including the leaves, flowers, and seed pods, are edible. Sorrel is a common addition to salads, soups, and sauces and can be used to make tea.
Where can I find wood sorrel?
Wood sorrel prefers moist soil, and partial shade. Patches of wood sorrel are prevalent on forest floors, and are often found near wild violets, cleavers, and wild onions.
Does sorrel lower blood sugar?
Flavonoids in Sorrel:
It helps to lower blood sugar. It helps decrease the cholesterol of ‘poor cholesterol’ or low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and boost ‘healthy cholesterol’ or high-density lipoproteins (HDL).
What is a substitute for sorrel?
Given the tangy and acidic profile of sorrel, the best flavor substitute is lemon zest, which can add sharp acidity to a dish, or the similarly tart spice sumac.
Other ingredients that can be used as sorrel substitutes include:
- Arugula.
- Mustard greens.
- Rhubarb.
- Spinach with a squeeze of lemon juice.
Can you eat sorrel stalks?
Sorrel stalks can be cooked like rhubarb. The acidity of sorrel is tamed by cooking in butter or cream or by topping sorrel with a cream sauce. Sorrel soups are commonly thickened with eggs and cream.
What does edible sorrel look like?
Flowers, Fruit and Seeds
Wood sorrel flowers have five petals, fused at the base to form a cup. They can vary from a few millimetres to two centimetres wide. Petal colour can be white, pink, or purple, but is most commonly yellow. The fruit is small with several seeds.
Why is my sorrel bitter?
Oxalic acid is responsible for giving red veined sorrel a bitter lemon flavor and in large quantities can cause mineral deficiencies, specifically calcium. Oxalic acid is minimized when cooked. It is suggested that people with pre-existing conditions avoid ingesting.
Is there more than one kind of sorrel?
Three popular varieties of sorrel are garden sorrel (Rumex acetosa), French sorrel (R. scutatus), and red veined sorrel (R. sanguineus). French sorrel is the preferred variety for culinary use.
What happens when you drink too much sorrel?
Sorrel is possibly unsafe when consumed in large amounts. Large amounts might increase the risk of developing kidney stones, or damage the liver or stomach.
How much wood sorrel is too much?
Sorrel is POSSIBLY UNSAFE when taken by mouth in large amounts, since it might increase the risk of developing kidney stones. There is also a report of death after consuming a large amount (500 grams) of sorrel.
How do you cook wood sorrel?
Instructions: Melt the butter over low heat in a medium pot. Add the sorrel and stir until the sorrel leaves are wilted (note: they will lose their bright green color as they wilt, but the flavor will still be great). Spoon the sauce over the seafood or cooked veggies of your choice.
What is the difference between wood sorrel and clover?
Yellow wood sorrel has bright green clover-like leaves and a small yellow five-petaled flower. Like clover, the leaves are palmately compound (leaflets radiating from a single point, like fingers from a palm) in threes, but unlike clover, the leaves are heart-shaped.
What animals eat wood sorrel?
The leaves and stems of wood sorrel are readily eaten by all classes of livestock, deer and antelope.
Is wood sorrel invasive?
Creeping Yellow Wood Sorrel is an invasive weed. The most abundant of these acid-tasting plants is common yellow wood sorrel (Oxalis stricta). A few species of wood sorrels have subterranean bulbs which are of some value to wildlife.
Can sorrel raise your blood pressure?
Sorrel has antihypertensive properties that help to lower blood pressure. A research done at a university in Boston found that persons who drink a cup of sorrel daily saw a significant reduction in their blood pressure level in 30 days.
Can diabetic drink sorrel drink?
The sorrel fibre may also help ward against certain health conditions including cancer, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Flavonoids not only give sorrel its deep red colour but act as a powerful antioxidant which scavenges the body of free radicals that can cause deadly diseases.