Plant Database / Wild & Foraged / Wood Sorrel
Wild & Foraged

Wood Sorrel

Oxalis species
Oxalidaceae

Looks like clover but tastes lemony-sour. Fun, safe in small amounts, and great for teaching kids to forage.

EdibleWild / foragedForagedSafe first forage
Wood Sorrel (Oxalis species) illustration — Texas Roots plant database, by Jordan Polasek
Sun
Part shade
Water
Moderate
Soil
Any
pH
Adaptable
Hardiness
Perennial
Height
4–8 in
Days to harvest
Most of year

What it is

Wood Sorrel (Oxalis species) is in the Oxalidaceae family. Looks like clover but tastes lemony-sour. Fun, safe in small amounts, and great for teaching kids to forage.

How to grow it

It wants part shade, water it moderate, and give it any soil. Target a soil pH around Adaptable. Expect roughly Most of year. Perennial.

How it's used

Wood Sorrel is used: raw nibble, garnish.

🔎 How to identify it

  • Three heart-shaped leaflets (clover-like)
  • Folds up at night
  • Yellow/pink five-petal flowers

Edibility

PartsLeaves, flowers, seed pods
UsesRaw nibble, garnish
CautionContains oxalic acid — fine in small amounts.
🌤 Before you plant: check the live 7-day garden weather to time it right for frost and heat.

Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.