Wood-sorrel.....facts and fables.....

Wood-sorrel (Oxalis Acetosella) is another beautiful Spring flower (April to May) often seen with Primroses and Wood Anemones in shady woodlands. A wonderful sight in Spring! There are a number of plants in the Wood-sorrel family but this is the only true native species. The white flowers have lovely lilac or mauve veining and they droop at night or when it rains to protect the pollen. The plant has a strange reproductive cycle in that it has two flowering periods. The white flowers appear in April lasting to May producing a capsule from which seeds are discharged. However, during the summer a second flowering occurs - a large number of buds close to the ground which seldom or never open. These self-pollinate producing many seeds.





Folklore

The veins on the flowers are said to be the marks of Christ's blood. Wood-sorrel appears in the forefront of crucifixion scenes painted by Fra Angelico and other 15th Century painters. In Dorset, Wood-sorrel is also known as the "Alleluiah" plant as it flowers between Easter and Whitsun when psalms ending in Alleluiah were sung in churches. Wood-sorrel is one of the plants claimed to be the Shamrock used by St Patrick to illustrate the doctrine of the trinity.

Medicinal uses

The leaves and flowers are the parts used and the active ingredients are muscilage, vitamin C and oxalic acid. Using various preparations it was used to hinder the putrefaction of blood, quench thirst, strengthen a weak stomach, prevent vomiting and to treat fevers. Crushed leaves were also applied to cuts and bruises. It was also used as a laxative.

Modern uses are for treating fevers, catarrh, urinary tract inflammation, skin infections and mouth ulcers.

Edible uses

As early as the 14th Century the leaves were used to add flavour to salads, green sauces and soups. They have a sharp acidic taste - Oxalis comes from the Greek, Oxys, meaning sharp. However, because of the high acid content the plant should be used sparingly.

Other names for Wood-sorrel were Cuckow Sorrell, Cuckowes Meate (because cuckoos fed on the plant or it flowered when cuckoos were singing), Wood Sower, Sower Trefoile, Stubwort and Sorrell du Bois (French).