Whilst having a stroll around a local woodland the other day I was lucky enough to find a large carpet of delicate leaved WOOD SORREL. Found growing on woodland floors and under hedgerows, basically anywhere that is shady and damp, this little plant can be identified by three heart shaped leaves and has delicate little five petaled white flowers. It is often used as an indicator of ancient woodlands.
WOOD SORREL can be confused with CLOVER, but generally their habitats do not really cross over with WOOD SORREL growing mainly in woodland and CLOVER growing in grassland. The mature leaves of a Clover do not have the heart shape that WOOD SORREL does either.
WOOD SORREL is an edible plant, with the tastiest part being the thin stem, which has a sharp and sour kind of taste a bit like apple peel at first then followed by a slight citrusy taste. Its not something I would eat on its own, although it does taste best when you are thirsty in my opinion so ideal as a little refresher when out on a ramble, but is a nice addition to a mixed leaf salad of some sorts. It is recommended that you do not eat too much of it as it contains OXALIC ACID.
Happy foraging guys…………
