Oxalis have five petals and can be pink or yellow. Photo by Green Deane
Sorrels are like McDonald’s restaurants: No matter where you are on earth there’s one nearby.
That’s because the sorrels, properly Oxalises, comes from a huge family. What’s huge? There are some 850 different species of them, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. No, that’s not a record. The biggest family is the Composites, you know, plants like sunflowers and daisies. There’s over 20,000 in that family, maybe more, no one really knows for sure. Still, an Oxalis (ox-AL-iss) is found at every location on the rotation except at the north and south poles. They are about as wide spread as mustards are. There are at least seven species in Florida, all edible, three of them rare — don’t eat those — and they have either pink or yellow blossoms, one of which has the good taste to sprout up in my garden. I live mid-state right on the line between temperate and subtropical so many plants said to be in the state are often 200 miles farther north in temperate or 200 miles farther south in tropical.
Oxalis is mistakenly often called clover
When you have a family of plants that’s 850-strong, and folks don’t know enough to eat them, you also get the other view: That the Oxalis is not a delicate, pretty little greenerific morsel but a pernicious ugly weed that uses up your water, fertilizer and garden space. Once an Oxalis gets a roothold in a garden, it’s there forever, which brings up a touchy point: Gardeners who complain the most about weeds are also usually the last group to consider eating the weeds. It’s kind of like they are for controlled green but not natural green. To me an Oxalis in my garden is food I didn’t have to plant. As long as it’s growing where I want it to grow there’s no issue. If it isn’t, it’s not a weed: It’s dinner. Sorrel is the first wild plant I saw someone other than my mother or grandmother nibble on. A childhood friend of mine named Peter Jewett called it “sour grass” a common name for it. We used to play on a small island in a small brook in the Maine woods. It grew profusely there and was the fort’s “food supply.”
Here in Florida our several versions keep changing names: O. articulata, corniculata, debilis, latifolia, macrantha, triangularis and violacea. O. corniculata used to be O. stricta, O. debilis was corymbosa. The rare ones are O. articulata, triangularis, and violacea. All parts are edible including the root bulb, which is succulent and can be sweet. Above ground it tastes much like rhubarb but not as tart. The C. violacea occasionally has, in the words of Merritt Fernald, author of Gray’s Manual of Botany, “an icicle-like water-storage organ or fleshy root.” In other parts of the world, Oxalis tuberosa is popular not only as a green but as a root vegetable.
Oxalis roots are popular as a vegetable in New Zealand
Sorrel is from the High German word “sur” meaning sour. Oxalis is from the Greek though the accent is on the end: ox-al-IS, base word (Οξύς, pungent) The Oxalis is mildly tangy because of …oxalic acid… now there’s a surprise. Articulata (ah-tic-you-LAH-ta) is jointed, Corniculata means, creeping, much branched like a mat, debilis is weak, Latifolia means broad leaved, Macrantha large flowered, Violacea (vye-o-LAY-see-uh) like a violet, Triangularis, triangle shaped, and Tuberosa (too-ber-ROW-sa) means tuber. Oxalises can grow individually or in colonies, and if you have one there will be colonies. They are refreshing to nibble on, are nice additions to salads, and can be made into an ade. Their tangy flavor is both positive and negative. A little is good, but a lot when eaten uncooked, to excess, can leach some calcium out of your bones. (Yes, you would have to consume it like a force-fed lab rat for months, but it can happen.) Kids can eat too much as they do green apples and get a tummy ache from it. Watch their consumption.
Oxalis root in situ
Cooking plants with oxalic acid reportedly renders them harmless, and that’s what has been done with other plants containing oxalic acid, such as docks and sheep sorrel, both Rumex and in the buckwheat family. This is particularly true if any form of calcium is used — milk for example — or included in other food. A good use for this plant is stuffing that trout you just caught and are cooking over the fire.
Every book on wild foods warns us not to consume too much oxalis acid, but that’s to keep the accursed lawyers happy. ( Shakespeare was right.) It is true that folks with kidney stones, gout and the like should not over-consume oxalic acid. Yet, when was the last time you read or heard of such a warning for tea, parsley, rhubarb, carambolas, spinach, chard, beets, cocoa, chocolate, nuts, berries, black pepper and beans? They all have oxalic acid as well, but no dire warnings are given with them. The French are not succumbing from sorrel soup slurping. As my Greek ancestors used to say some 3,000 years ago, μέτρον άριστον, [ME-tron A-ri-ston] all things in moderation.
Lastly, the Internet calls Oxalies “clover” which is completely wrong. Different genus, different shape if you look closely.
Below is an Oxalix Cooler recipe from Sunny Savage
Oxalis Cooler
1 quart water
1/2 cup Oxalis leaf/stem/flowers/seedpods
1 Tablespoon agave nectar or honey
dash of salt
Mix all ingredients in a blender. If possible, let sit overnight in refrigerator and enjoy!
Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile
IDENTIFICATION: Perennial growing to ix inches, three leaves, some times very delta shaped, other times round or lance shaped, depending upon the species. Pink and or yellow blossoms in Florida
TIME OF YEAR: Grows and flowers year round in Florida, July to September in more northern climes. Very prolific in February and March in Florida.
ENVIRONMENT: Anywhere moist but well drained, lawns, woods, trails, parks.
METHOD OF PREPARATION: Leaves and stems in salad, or made into ade or soup. Use as a stuffing for fish and chicken or ferment like a sauerkraut. If you cook oxalis best to use a glass or ceramic pot. Like all plants with oxalic acid should be used in moderation. Some people may be allergic to it. The juice can be used to coagulate milk for cheese making. See my article on rumex.
Hello, love your information! Thank you for sharing this information. I lived in central Florida until recently. I started learning about edible wild plants for my rabbits, and just started thinking about adding wild plants to my salads. In my untreated lawn, I have what I think is sorrel, but is it much smaller than yours, yellow flowers on a smaller stem off the main bigger stem, 3 clusters of heart shaped leaves. Could this be it? I live in NW North Carolina, so maybe our 4 seasons keep it smaller. Are the flower and the bud edible as well?
The native sorrel is Oxalis stricta. The entire sorrel is edible.
Be careful not to give your rabbits too much oxalis(and I can’t say what quantity that would be). A local rabbit rescuing organization’s head told me to give only infrequently.
Hi Green Deane,
I’m a new fan of your site and videos. I live in Melbourne, Australia and native Aussies is looked upon wild foraging as odd and even foolhardy. I’ve been picking pine mushrooms for a few years (self taught) but mention wild mushroom picking and people think you’ll be the next casualty in the news! I do extensive research and am very cautious, so it would be unlikely.
When I read on your site that oxalis is edible, I ran outside and picked some from my yard and munched… wow, what a tasty treat!! I’m already thinking of all the ways I can use this in my cooking. Have yet to try violet leaves (there are some right at my doorstep), but will probably make an egg soup or something simple with them. Thanks for opening up a whole new world to us.
You should come over to Melbourne and educate the locals!
Hi Joo-Lian
I too am from Melbourne, Australia and am heading up to Gembrook this weekend to pick me some sorrel, now that I know what it is I see it growing everywhere!
Have you picked many mushrooms this season?
We call this plant Sour Grass in Far North Queensland.
Violet flowers and leaves are mild like lettuce, goes well with oxalis
be carful if you are not yet “plant literet”. some people can not tell the differance between a rose shoot and a rose flower. most are not that bad, but, look for photograghs to be sure. if it is a clover with yellow flowers as I have here, it can cause varyous health problems in some people. of coarse is a member of the pea family with yellow flowers, there is a trend there. that said, my guess is that you have one of three types of oxalis based on your decription. it should have a leaf consisting of three leaflets(sometimes four or 5. unlike clovers, that trait will be common or even exlucive in the whole colony) and five petals. does any one know where I could buy oca(O. tuberosa) in the u.s.?
Google Horizon Herbs, they sell oca tubers for planting.
thank you ancient puruvians!
GReat website and newsletter. Muchisimas gracias!
I’ve heard that white clover and red clover are edible, but what about crimson clover?
Crimson clover has edible seeds.
Now I feel really bad for digging up and smashing every Oxalis root I found in in my yard.
As someone once said: We want to grow what wants to die,
(at least in our areas) – and kill what wants to grow.
I’m glad to read that Oxalis roots are edible. I was looking for info on the O. tuberosa, which I could not find a good picture of. I have 5 kinds of oxalis in my garden, two I put there (the green “shamrock” with white flowers, which seems to grow very slowly and the purple with pink flowers) and three that just came up; the triangle leaved green with pink flowers, round leaved green with pink flowers and a creeping yellow which I can’t really identify. The purple grows like — well — a weed, so I’m glad to know I don’t have to toss out the roots now.
Hey Grean Deane,
The oxalis cooler/ade is great! I expected it to have a slight grassy flavor, but I got no such result. I also used stevia instead of honey. My only note is that if anyone wants it to be a little more tart, I’d reduce the ratio of water to oxalis. I made 2 quarts and used a cup of oxalis, and my oxalis was pretty sour, so next time I think I’d like to use maybe 1.5 quarts to that much oxalis.
How does one prepare the tubers of the locally abundant native and introduced Oxalis (like the purple flowering ones – O. debilis? – so common in Central Florida) ? Are the root tubers eaten raw, or must they be cooked, and if cooked, how and for how long? Found some beauties while weeding yesterday (prior to reading my emails); now I wish I had kept the tubers. Won’t make the mistake of “weeding” out these pretty and valuable forage plants again. Thank you Deane for your generous “continuing education” emails and web site for all of us arm-chair horticulture enthusiasts. We appreciate you, and always look forward to seeing your Green Deane Newsletter updates in our email box. Thanks again.
The tubers can be eaten raw or boiled or roasted. Kind of small to actually cook them.
Confused. How is cooking different than boiling or roasting? Maybe a typo or something? If they’re big enough to roast or boil, I could add them to any dish like a handful of raisins or craisins or…
Does oxalis have any look-alikes to be aware of or is it a pretty safe bet as far as the wild edibles go?
Hi! Thank you for your informative website! We have Buttercup Oxalis (Oxalis pes-caprae) growing in our Organic Pear Orchards. I have been feeding it to my chickens. They love it! I noticed a comment above which mentioned that yellow flowered oxalis may cause health problems. Wondering if this is a concern? I really want to begin foraging for the incredible edibles in our orchards. We have Oxalis, Plantain, Purslane, Dandelion, Cat Tail, Chickweed and lots of others. Please advise on the safety of yellow flowered oxalis. Thank you!
Also, what about alfalfa??
People who have a history of calcium-based kidney stones usually avoid foods with oxalic acid in them, which includes Oxalises.
I’m 60 years old, been eating yellow flowered ones in Oregon my whole life.
If your orchard was conventionally managed before it was transitioned to organic status, be careful of toxins and heavy metals which may have built up in the soil over the years. Different plants and fungi tend to concentrate certain metals or toxins- which can be useful for removing those from the soil, but this can make otherwise safe and nutritious edibles dangerous.
Alfalfa is edible, and has a long history of being used as a vegetable, prior to it’s fame as a forage plant for feeding animals.
I grew up having “sheep sorrel” tea as a spring tonic. I have Native American in my background and was told the tea was an old natural remedy. It makes a nutricious tonic because it leaches minerals out of the soil and is high in vitamin C and minerals. It thrives even in poor rocky soil because of its ability to pull so many nutrients out of the soil.
Hmmm Can I grow sorrel in southwest Florida (Zone 10a)? I hear it grows best in Zone 4-9…I am sure it will be fine indoors but I’m just wondering if I can add it to my balcony stock.
It grows there naturally, and can be transplanted easily.
Thank you! I have been go ogling clover for the last 2 hrs and found ur article. I have LOVED this “weed” for yrs and always thought it was clover. Some sites claim it’s shamrock. I AM soooooo thankful for your insite. Had NO idea we could eat it. I think it’s too pretty to eat. But if it’s as invasive as u say then I’d be up for it. Just got a GREAT clump of it from weeding out property. Gonna find a spot for it 🙂
How do I know if I’ve eaten too much oxalis? I eat a lot of it raw. It’s one of my main leafy greens, since it grows outside & I don’t have to worry about it rotting in my fridge. Would it lead to a calcium/magnesium deficiency? I apparently have a magnesium deficiency. Thank you.
If you an adult it would take several pounds of oxalic acid containing material to cause any kind of serious problem. Children, however, can get an upset tummy by eating far less and because of the tartness they tend to eat too much of it.
Over eating causes stomach ache and mild dieria.
My son picked alot, made a large glass of juice. About 20 ounces. Had stomach ache for 24 hours.
We snack on it when hiking in the woods to help with thirst.
As far as I know, we only have the yellow sorrels in Germany. They grow in mountanious areas but not in the lowlands. At least I haven’t seen any in the woods around Berlin yet (my foraging grounds).
Oxalis is one of the minor weeds in my garden, but I haven’t tried eating those yet. I do grow Oxalis tuberosa, however, so I will have to give that cooler a go! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Fascinating article thanks. I grow Oxalis tuberosa here in the UK and enjoy the colourful harvest in November when the rest of the garden is sleepy. I’m trialling oca this year with the Guild of Oca Breeders to try and find better, more heavy yielding varieties, so a quarter of my allotment is full of these little beauties. 🙂
I grew up calling this “sour grass” as well. It was especially nice when it had ‘bananas’ for us to pick off and eat. They were extra tart. I munched on them regularly and taught my children and grand children they could eat it also. Granddaughter and I often use it as ‘food’ for our teas with her dolls.
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this article. Unfortunately, there are no McDonald’s in Ghana(sadly) so I guess sorrels aren’t like McDonald’s(Lol).
And I’m so glad Oca(the roots) plants are considered a weed. Meaning if i look a little harder, I just might find one. Lovely site.
Thanks
I welcome (and LOVE eating) wood sorrel in my backyard! Oddly enough, I usually find it in close proximity to the lambs quarters (chenopodium album) growing there. Two-fer!
I have the Oxalis plants but none of the roots/tubers I have look like these you have pictures.
The roots I see of mine are black little circles the size of peas but the above flowers are exactly like yours.
I have pink, white, & dark pink ones.
**Are mine just not mature enough yet to have the tubers? Mine have been growing a little over a year now.
Thank you for a great article!!
I’d think that the colored roots are from a different, also edible Oxalis
Thanks for this article. I would just like to clarify that all oxalis’ foliage are edible even the ones with burgundy leaves? I have planted oca in my garden, which I dig up for the tubers and use the clover like leaves for salads. Also I have two types of sorrel taking over one area of my garden, if I dug those up, would the roots be ‘tubers”, and edible?
Cheers!
Yes burgundy Oxalic leaves are edible.
Great article … and website in general! I have a small correction regarding “Sorrel is from the High German word ‘sur’ meaning sour.”
The high German word is “sauer” (pronounced like “sour”), but I believe that once upon a time pronunciation sounded like “sur”.
I was actually told not to eat foods high in oxalates after being apart a nutrition study at Stanford for Celiacs. I could not figure out why my iron was low because I got enough iron. It was the oxalic acid foods I was having several times per day (plus coffee in a.m.). Normal people without auto-immune or stones probably do not need to cut back. I love sorrel but do not eat it with any meal I want iron from.
Oxalates can, and do, cause health issues for a lot of people. Beyond tying up iron*, or forming kidney stones – which are bad enough, oxalates can damage virtually any tissue in the body. In some cases, they can even cause death.
*Much of the mineral content that are found in many food plants are
actually tied up in oxalate crystals, and are totally unavailable to meet human nutritional needs.
In ‘Lost Seasonality, Risking Oxalate Toxicity’, by Sally K. Norton , MPH available on YouTube, Norton explains what oxalates are, how they damage human tissues – sometimes to the point of death – and what foods they are found in.
According to Norton (references are included in her slides), oxalates are universally toxic. It is not a matter of sensitivity. It is a matter of exposure. How these foods are consumed can make a difference, as well.
While humans have been consuming oxalate containing plants for a very long time, for most of human history, plants were eaten seasonally. Periods of time with little or no plant consumption allowed time for the body to rid itself of the oxalate load during those times.
Oxalates form microscopic, incredibly sharp crystals which are found in the tissues of people who eat them. These crystals are harder than our teeth. And oxalates are not destroyed by leaching, pounding, or cooking. Oxalate crystals are heat stable.
The list of foods that contain fairly high levels of oxalates includes rhubarb (highest in the leaves, which is why rhubarb leaves are considered inedible), chard, and spinach. And yes, people have died from eating sorrel soup. (I’m not sure, Deane, if any were French.)
Soy, almonds, kiwi fruit… and many more.
One speaker (I think it was Dr. George Diggs, PhD but am not certain) said that he knew a young college student who had repeated incidents of kidney stones. This student regularly consumed spinach smoothies, which apparently makes the oxalates more readily absorbed – yet this student’s physicians never mentioned that a reduction in the consumption of oxalates might help stop the agony.
Dr. Georgia Ede, MD and Dr. George Diggs, PhD both have presentations on YouTube that mention both oxalates and other toxins in common food plants.
This is not to say that we should stop eating all plants, but to point out that over-consumption of plants- especially in ways our ancestors did not eat them: high oxalate nuts, fruits, grains, seeds, and vegetables available in abundance 24/7/365: ‘smoothies’, etc.
Hope this info is useful to the readers of this great website.
I made pesto from wood sorrel (yellow flowers). It tasted lemony but had that puckering mouthfeel that you get with very dry red wine. Not what I was looking for on pasta. We didn’t finish it.
Oxalis is good in a salad… how did you come to think it would be good on pasta?
Hi Dean… thanks for all your amazing info.
…up above here though, I found something which doesnt make sense, an was hoping for clarification. About SOURGRASS …you write: ..”there are at least seven species in Florida, all edible, three of them rare -don’t eat those- ( seems you’re telling me two things here ?- all edible and…don’t eat those?) …the pink flower-sourgrass I have here. has that small 5 petalled pink flower…with leaves resembling three hearts ..rather than the three pyramid-shaped or moth-shaped leaves that I associate with oxalis ( and it seems to me you also call the heart-shaped-sourgrass- pink-flowered plant described above ..a type of oxalis ?) ..this plant I mention here, has a short fat transparent-like taproot (up to 3 of them)…and above its main root is a host of tiny little “things”…which seems to be new plants in the making. I hope you will find time to clarify Dean …thank mate ! and stay well out there.
Thanks for writing. I’m just saying don’t eat rare species into extinction.
Mr. Deane, I have just stumbled onto your site after pulling many oxalis plants from my veggie garden today. Thank you for all of this fabulous information. I live in North Florida and only recently discovered the bulb/tuber for the plant. Most of the larger roots have a strawberry-like shape and quality although they are predominately white. The smaller ones were brownish. Some of the larger plants have a longer root, more like the ones you have pictured, but most do not. Do the roots look different at different stages of the plant’s growth? Are the rounded, strawberry-like bulbs safe to eat?
I am collecting green edibles in my yard. My “sour grass” has glow yellow flowers on 2′ stems and brown bulbs, except when in mid season. Then there can be the wee white bulbs hanging from the petiole. Sometimes think it’s spreads thru its pollen? It has taken over most of my yard except under the loquat tree. It doesn’t seem to freeze, so I have been leaving it to protect kale, etc during winter months. Have been cautious because of the oxalic acid warnings. Thank you all. :>)
I just read an article about purple oxalis that scared me about it, yet there are articles like yours saying oxalis is edible. Is the purple dangerous yet other varieties aren’t? Are some edible to people yet dangerous for animals? I have a big fluffy pot of purple and after reading an article claiming it had vitamin C I tasted the flowers and didn’t get sick, so when my cat nibbled a flower off it I didn’t worry, yet now I am concerned.
I love learning this from you! I grew up eating California’s intense yellow oxalis from time to time. We only munched the stems. Yum. I am guessing it is the same type as found in Oregon from an earlier description. I will probably experiment like the pesto person, but sadly now know to skip that particular idea. I have been ‘collecting’ oxalises and have tried growing 8 varieties but only 5 seem to like where I put them. Although our stores out here sell weed killer targeting oxalis along with those ‘unsightly’ dandelions, I love to see a field of yellow flowers. I prefer to use the name Bermuda Buttercups which I saw somewhere and call it, rightly, a wild flower. Changing perceptions one gardener or neighbor at a time. We get long banks of the yellow starting about now, and it is gorgeous. Ours has only a few buds yet. The main blooming time is a couple weeks away still. Now I have one more thing to mention while promoting oxalis love!
Hi!🐱
Is there a way to tell if Wood Sorrel will have yellow or pink blooms b4 they flower?? I have both. Some are already n full bloom, but I have new plants sprouting n places nowhere near the others.
Thank u,
~Miow🐱
The yellow-flowered species are always much smaller than the pink-blossomed species by half or two thirds.
Is Oxalis regnelli “Triangularis” also edible? It grows all over out in the western US and my sister was just mentioning needing to eradicate it from her garden because she’s read that it’s toxic.
I have eaten these since I was 5 or 6 years old. I think a friend showed me them. My kids were then taught and we called them yum-yums since that’s what I called them as a child. Seems almost naughty, so antiestablishment, to reach out and pluck something from a lawn and eat it! Haha!
We have what I thought was oxalis/wood sorrel and I snack on it when I garden, but we havent introduced it the kids yet because Im not 100% sure about it. Ours doesn’t have big tuberous roots like that – do they all?
Hi
I live in a subtropical region of Australia. My backyard and the nearby National Park is awash in all kinds of useful culinary and medicinal plants incl. several Oxalis sp.
I use Oxalis (whatever variety I find) both as food and as a medicine. For those who are scared of oxalic acid: there is NO need to worry! There is actually a US Patent for the use of oxalic acid in the treatment of a range of medical problems, incl. cancer.
Of course you won’t hear any of this from the mainstream media and especially not from the medical-pharmaceutical establishment. Where would that leave their obscene profits???
Check this out for yourself: United States Patent No 6,133,317 issued Oct.1,7 2000
The inventor Col Joe Hart has also written a book on the subject called “Cancer – The Cure Is In The Food” which can be found on the net. Personally I use oxalic-acid containing plants as cancer prevention.
Enjoy God’s gift!