Sheep Sorrel

Rumex acetosella

Sheep sorrel leaves have a tangy, lemony flavor, sometimes used as part of a salad greens mixture, though high tannin and oxalic acid content limit its use in large quantities.  This is the little cousin to yellow dock, R. crispus, another naturalized European alien in N. America.  Sheep sorrel is probably best known currently as a traditional ingredient in Essiac, an herbal formula,  that is often used as a therapy for cancer patients.  Folk cancer remedy.  Related culinary species include French sorrel, R. scutatus, and garden sorrel, R. acetosa, best known for their use in soup.

Family:  Buckwheat family.
Life cycle:  Herbaceous perennial (Zones 3-9)
Native:  Originally from Europe, now found throughout N. America, especially on acid soils.
Height:  4- 12 inches
Sun:  Full sun
Soil:  Any soil, does well on wetter, acid soils.
Water:  Light to moderate
Flowers:  Flowers are reddish purple and bloom from mid- late summer. 
Propagation:  Sow seeds indoors and transplant outside in mid-late spring, or sow directly outdoors. No treatment required. Germination in 7-10 days at a rate of 70%.  This plant will spread, plant 12 inches apart. 
Pests:  No major pests reported or observed in field plots.
Harvesting:  Harvest aerial parts with scissors in the early summer.  
Parts used:  Aerial parts, fresh or dried, also root.
Used as:  Infusion (tea), tincture.
Medicinal benefits:  Immune system and lymphatic system.  Caution: may cause poisoning in large doses, due to high oxalic acid and tannin contents.  Leaf tea traditionally used for fevers, inflammations, scurvy.  Fresh leaves considered cooling, diuretic.  Root tea used for diarrhea, excessive menstrual bleeding.  Sheep sorrel is rich in cancer-preventative vitamins, also includes four anti-mutagenic and four anti-oxidant compounds.
Market potential:   Moderate.  Prices for herb range from $6.30 - $33.00/lb dw.  Is a prominent ingredient in the well known Essiac cancer-treatment formula.

KSU Field Trial Data - 2000-2002.  

Summary of field trial data:   This plant had very good survival from transplants in replicated plots at four locations in Kansas (Olathe, Wichita, Colby and Hays).  First year yield of the above ground portion was small, but by the second year, the individual plants had spread quite a bit, and above ground biomass was estimated at over 2 tons per acre.  This may even be an underestimate, as approximately one square foot was harvested, assuming this was the original dimensions of the plant, when in fact most plants had spread to a 2’ x 2’ or even 3’ x 3’ area.  However, harvesting this biomass will be difficult, as the plant is low growing, and either hand harvesting with scissors, or mechanically harvesting and then washing the whole plant may be necessary. 

The % survival goes up the second year, instead of down, because the plants are spreading, and filling in gaps.  This is NOT a crop to grow as a companion crop, and can become weedy.  We don’t know yet if tillage will kill this plant, once we move on from these plots.  By the third year, the plants had grown well out of their original rows, and had begun to invade neighboring plots.