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Oxalis montana
Also called American Wood Sorrel, Common Wood Sorrel, Mountain Wood Sorrel, White Wood Sorrel, Cuckoo's Meat, White Woodsorrel
Mountain woodsorrel is a low perennial that spreads by rhizomes into patches in cool, shady, moist forest floors across eastern North America. It thrives in shade with consistent moisture and cool conditions.
Oxalis montana is a species of flowering plant in the family Oxalidaceae known by the common names mountain woodsorrel, wood shamrock, sours and white woodsorrel. It may also be called common woodsorrel, though this name also applies to its close relative, Oxalis acetosella.
This species is a perennial herb native to eastern North America, including eastern Canada and the north-central and eastern United States, and Appalachian Mountains. The Latin specific epithet montana refers to mountains or coming from mountains.
This plant is a climax species, occurring in mature forests and tolerant of shade. It is a dominant herb in a number of ecosystems, such as the forests of the Appalachian Mountains. It occurs there in the understory of red spruce (Picea rubens) and balsam or Fraser fir (Abies balsamea or A. fraseri).
The species is sour in flavor, and can be added to soup or salad. It contains oxalic acid, which can be poisonous in high quantities.
Wood-sorrel · Silver Shamrock · Barrelier's woodsorrel · Creeping woodsorrel · Scurvygrass · Crimson woodsorrel · Broadleaf woodsorrel · Nieuwoudtville Sorrel · Blackspot Sorrel · Redwood-sorrel · Bermuda buttercup · Purple woodsorrel
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Oxalis montana 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.
