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Rumex acetosa
Also called Common Sorrel, Garden Sorrel, Sour Dock, Green Sorrel, Meadow Sorrel, Sorrel Dock, Garden Dock
Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) is a hardy perennial herb grown for its tangy, lemony leaves, usually sold as garden sorrel. It is grown outdoors in sun to part shade and is easy to keep in a bed or large pot.
Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. It is also called common sorrel, meadow sorrel, green sorrel, sour dock, spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ("dock" often used for the genus).
The species is native to Eurasia and a common wild plant in grassland habitats. It is often consumed as a leaf vegetable or herb, and has a cultigen, called Rumex rugosus and garden sorrel, that is typically the taxon found in gardens and sold by commercial suppliers.
Rumex acetosa occurs in grassland habitats throughout Europe from the northern Mediterranean coast to the north of Scandinavia and in parts of Central Asia. It occurs as an introduced species in parts of New Zealand, Australia, and North America. It can grow in poor soil.
Common sorrel has been cultivated for centuries. The leaves are edible when young but toughen with age; they may be puréed in soups and sauces or added to salad. The young shoots are edible as well, these and the leaves both being high in vitamin C and having a lemony flavor.
Sheep's Sorrel · Curled Dock · Toothed dock · Cape spinach · Broad-leaved Dock · Patience Dock · Fiddle Dock · Garden Sorrel · Rambling dock · Willow dock · French sorrel · Dock
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sorrel 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.
