Note: products or services contained in these advertisements are neither tried nor endorsed by me in anyway, not do their views reflect my own. Wood Sorrel (Oxalis spp) How to Identify Wood Sorrel. Wood Sorrel (genus Oxalis), or sourgrass, is a medium sized weed that occurs throughout most of North America. Other plants in the family include purple shamrocks (Oxalis triangularis) a common houseplant, and violet wood sorrel (Oxalis violacea). It has yellow flowers, with 5 petals. ), but there’s one glaring difference between these two genera that you’ll notice right away if you’re looking for it: wood sorrel has heart-shaped leaves, while the leaves of clovers are rounded. Welcome to my foraging blog. There are a number of varieties of wood sorrel which can be found throughout the world, though flowers and leaves vary in color and size. Wood sorrel will begin to wilt almost immediately after harvesting, so it’s best eaten on the spot. Woodsorrel is also called "shamrocks", and the little green leaves (or cut-outs like them) are seen everywhere when the Irish spirit is in the air. But notice it has oval-shaped leaves, with only a very small indent in the top, leaf edges are also serrated. Check out my Pinterest--the best of foraging from around the web. Much of this sour flavor is lost with high-heat cooking, so wood sorrel is best used cold, to keep is flavor in-tact. The book was written with the absolute beginner in mind, and with the goal of getting you out into the world gathering wild foods right away. I think these warnings are mostly unfounded (unless you happen to suffer from gout or rheumatoid arthritis, in which case you already know to avoid oxalates), and it’s really a shame because they only serve to discourage people from being open-minded about trying wild foods. Keto, gluten-free, foraging recipe made with edible "weeds" of early spring. It grows about 15 cm (6 inches) tall, has pink-tinted stems, and white or reddish flowers that appear … Like wood sorrel, black medic (Medicago lupulina) has 3-part leaves and yellow flowers. Foraging, identifying and preparing this wild mushroom. I use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit this website. The Good Life Revival, created by Sam Sycamore, explores the ways that we can better align our lifestyles with our landscapes. When you read about wood sorrel in the wild food literature, you’ll often see very stark warnings about overconsumption of oxalic acid that might make you second-guess your desire to try eating it. Introduction to Foraging details a dozen wild plants that are very common and very easy to identify. Even now I'll snack on it and fairy's thumb walking home from school. Common yellow wood sorrel is a member of the Oxalidaceae, the Wood Sorrel family. The most likely plant to confuse with sorrel is black medic, related to alfalfa, and a more distant relative of common clover. The name “wood sorrel” actually refers to many nearly identical species in the Oxalis genus, including O. stricta and O. corniculata. Yellow wood sorrel is related to a variety of other oxalis species, all of which can be problems in the garden and lawn. Edible, delicious, and easy to ID, Beginner foraging course from the Backyard Forager, Creeping yellow wood sorrel, nearly identical, also edible. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies. To learn everything you need to know to begin foraging safely, sustainably, and confidently, check out my book here. Po... How I find and safely eat pokeweed shoots in early... Pickled greenbriar tips foraging recipe. There are many different species of oxalis, the best known being oxalis acetosella, which has white flowers with streaks of pink. The name is chiefly used for O. montana, a stemless trifoliate ( i.e., with three leaflets) herb native to North America from southern Canada southward to Tennessee and westward to Minnesota. A com... Burdock and pokeweed fritters, foraging recipe. You CAN eat thistles! If you make a mistake and end up with a mouthful of clover instead of wood sorrel, no worries—clovers are edible too, but their leaves can be pretty stringy and fibrous, so they’re not always ideal when eaten raw like wood sorrel. Oxalis stricta Lawn Weed Identification and Control Yellow Wood Sorrel (Oxalis stricta), commonly called Oxalis or sour grass, is a vigorous weed. They can be tough to tell apart, and in truth there’s no need to stress about which species you’re looking at – they’re all equally edible and tasty. That sour, lemon-ish flavor is due in part to the presence of oxalic acid (which is where this genus’s scientific name comes from). What this plant is best known for is its tangy flavor. Wood sorrel looks similar to clover and tends to get misidentified as clover. (Again, you can identify and eat before seeds form). Either Hepatcia americana, or Anemone hepatcia. If you encounter another small, three-leaved plant, with smooth leaf edges, it's a safe-to-eat clover. The family is mostly found in temperate regions. Click here to find out more and sign up today. The flower is also different from that of sorrel. Foraging: Identifying and Eating Purslane (avoid poisonous spurge! Common Yellow Wood Sorrel (Oxalis stricta) By David Taylor. And like you, a neighborhood friend introduced me to it but she called it skunk cabbage which was wrong. It’s one of our most common weeds, ubiquitous across all of North America, and found just about anywhere there’s a clump of dirt and some sunlight: lawns, gardens, cracks in sidewalks and driveways, the edges of trails in the woods, etc. At first glance, many people will mistake wood sorrel for some kind of clover (Trifolium sp. Plus a vegan, paleo Greek sa... Vegetarian garlicky cleavers walnut pesto. Here you'll find identification tips and recipes using wild foods. Me too! It is a summer annual -- sometimes perennial -- that thrives in fertile, warm and moist soils and likes shade. This was actually the first plant i learned how to identify and actually liked eating, and it grows basically everywhere where I live. It's one of my favorites, just for that reason, and grows throughout my garden. It’s also good to know when out hiking on a hot day, because a few nibbles will go a surprisingly long way towards keeping your thirst quenched. Botanical Name Oxalis spp Family. I smile every time I see this little plant! And anyway, the nature of wood sorrel is such that you will never eat as much of it in one meal as you would of our oxalic-rich cultivated greens anyway, so don’t worry about the trumped-up disclaimers you might see elsewhere! It is an enjoyable flavor for sure. It generally grows about 6" high, but can reach 12-14" in optimal conditions. Add it to salads, desert sauces, smoothies. Wood sorrel will germinate just about anytime a patch of soil is disturbed, but for most of its range it does most of its growing in the spring and fall. The edible and medicinal wood ear mushroom: Auricu... Redbud (or any other edible flower) smoothie - veg... Winter oyster mushroom identification tips for foragers, locavores and more! Wood sorrel has many common names, mostly used by children who love this little plant. They can be tough to tell apart, and in truth there’s no need to stress about which species you’re looking at – they’re all equally edible and tasty. These companies may use information (but NOT including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. It should also be avoided by pregnant women. Some I've heard are: lemon clover, lemon grass, sour grass, and sour clover; there are doubtless others. Wood sorrel and clovers also feature very distinctly different flowers—sorrel has tiny yellow flowers with five petals, while clovers produce large flower heads (relative to the size of the plants) loaded with flowers that somewhat resemble those of peas.