The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Oxalis acetosella
Also called Common wood sorrel, European Wood Sorrel, Irish Shamrock, Cuckoo Bread, Cuckoo's Meat
A low, rhizomatous perennial of shady woods across Europe and northern and central Asia, growing up to about 10 cm tall with clover-like leaves and white, pink-veined flowers in spring. It thrives in cool, moist, shaded conditions and is the only member of its genus in much of its range.
Oxalis acetosella, also known as wood-sorrel or common wood-sorrel, is a herbaceous rhizomatous flowering plant in the family Oxalidaceae. The specific epithet acetosella refers to its sour taste. The common name wood-sorrel is often used for other plants in the genus Oxalis.
In much of its range, most of Europe and parts of Asia, it is the only member of its genus and hence simply known as wood-sorrel. While 'common wood-sorrel' may be used to differentiate it from most other species, this name is also used for the North American Oxalis montana.
It grows in woods and shady places across most of Europe and northern and central Asia. It is commonly found throughout Great Britain and Ireland, except for The Fens where it is rare. It occurs on a wide range of moist soils, both lime-rich and acidic, in Britain from sea level up to 1,160 m (3,810 ft) in central Scotland (and higher in southern Europe and Asia); it is also tolerant of deep shade, including even dense young conifer plantations. It formerly also occurred in Algeria in North Africa, but is now extinct there.
As with other species of wood-sorrel, the leaves are sometimes eaten by humans, but are high in oxalic acid. An oxalate called "sal acetosella" was formerly extracted from the plant by boiling it.
Silver Shamrock · Barrelier's woodsorrel · Creeping woodsorrel · Scurvygrass · Crimson woodsorrel · Broadleaf woodsorrel · Nieuwoudtville Sorrel · Blackspot Sorrel · Mountain woodsorrel · Redwood-sorrel · Bermuda buttercup · Purple woodsorrel
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Oxalis acetosella by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
