Sheep Sorrel

Rumex acetosella

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
For more information please download the BSBI Code of Conduct PDF document.

Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Caryophyllales

Family:

Polygonaceae (Dock)

Also in this family:

Amphibious Bistort, Broad-leaved Dock, Common Bistort, Common Knotgrass, Common Sorrel, Curled Dock, Garden Rhubarb, Japanese Knotweed, Pale Persicaria, Red Bistort, Redleg, Russian Vine, Water Dock, Wood Dock

Type:

Flower

Maximum Size:

25 centimetres tall

Habitats:

Beaches, farmland, grassland, heathland, lawns, meadows, roadsides, sand dunes, waterside, woodland.

Flower:

Green, 3 petals

Small green flowers which are frequently tinged red. The flowers grow in compact leafless spikes and are almost always unbranched.

Fruit:

A round, brown, 3-edged seed (achene).

Leaves:

Linear, untoothed, arrow-shaped leaves. The two linear basal lobes are pointed and distinctive in shape. Stem leaves are alternately arranged. Not hairy.

Other Names:

Common Sheep Sorrel, Cow Sorrel, Cuckoo Bread, Cuckoo's Sorrel, Field Sorrel, Gentleman's Sorrel, Green Sauce, Horse Sorrel, Mountain Sorrel, Ranty-tanty, Red Sorrel, Red Weed, Sour Dock, Sour Grass, Sour Weed, Sourleaf, Surette, Toad's Sorrel.

Frequency (UK):

Common

Distribution Map

Reproduced by kind permission of the BSBI.

Click to open an Interactive Map