Ontario Weeds: Sheep sorrel
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Excerpt from Publication 505, Ontario Weeds,
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Table of Contents
- Name
- Other Names
- Family
- General Description
- Stems and Roots
- Leaves
- Flowers and Fruit
- Habitat
- Similar Species
- Related Links
Name: Sheep sorrel, Rumex acetosella
L.,
Other Names: petite oseille, Field sorrel,
Red sorrel, petite osielle des brebis, surette
Family: Buckwheat or Smartweed Family
(Polygonaceae)
General Description: Perennial, reproducing
by seed and by spreading horizontal roots. These produce whitish
buds which grow into leafy above ground shoots and result in very
dense patches. The plant may also grow as an annual: germinating
from seed, flowering, producing a new crop of seed and dying, all
in one growing season.
Sheep sorrel. A. Horizontal root with 4 above ground shoots.
B. Stem with inflorescence.
Stems & Roots: Stems 10 - 60
cm (4 - 24 in.) high, slender, tough and wiry
Leaves: Leaves alternate (1 per node),
variable in size and shape; lower leaves long-stalked, usually spade-shaped
with a pair of slender lobes near the base of the blade, but occasionally
very slender and without any lobes; middle leaves short-stalked
and nearly always with a lateral lobe on each side; upper leaves
stalkless and usually without lobes; leaf ocrea (a thin membranous
sheath arising with the leafstalk) at each node of the stem, colourless
or faintly greenish-yellow, quite ragged on older stems.
Flowers & Fruit: Flowers small,
clustered in whorls in a branching inflorescence; plants unisexual
so all flowers on one plant are either female (seed-producing) or
male (pollen-producing); female flowers greenish, male flowers yellowish,
the whole plant often with a reddish-green to brownish cast; seeds
(tiny fruits) about 1.5 mm (1/16 in.) long, triangular or 3-sided
in cross-section, smooth, shiny, and reddish-brown to golden-brown.
Flowers from May to July.
Habitat: Sheep sorrel occurs throughout
Ontario but is more common in the southern parts of the province
in pastures, meadows, waste areas and roadsides, rarely persisting
in cultivated fields. It is common in sandy and gravelly soils,
especially in areas which are so low in fertility that they do not
adequately support other kinds of plants.
Similar Species: It is distinguished by
its usually low stature, its spade-shaped leaf blades that usually
have 1 or 2 slender lobes near the base of the blade, its membranous
ocrea surrounding the stem just above each leaf, its inflorescence
of two types - one producing seed and the other producing only pollen
- and its frequently reddish or brownish colour.
Related Links
... on general Weed
topics
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA
Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA
Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control
For more information:
Toll Free: 1-877-424-1300
E-mail: ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca