These dainty sleeping beauties fold up their leaves and flowers at nightfall. Seek them out in cool, damp corners of ancient woodlands where they thrive in undisturbed soils.
Common name(s): wood sorrel, cuckoo sorrel, sleeping Molly, Alleluia
Scientific name: Oxalis acetosella
Family: Oxalidaceae
Origin: native
Flowering season: April to May
Habitat: damp woodland, ancient woodland, gardens
This delicate wood-dwelling perennial herb has distinctive trefoil leaves and pretty white flowers with thin lilac veins. Wood sorrel spreads horizontally from underground stems and appears in clusters.
Leaves: are made up of three separate heart-shaped leaflets joined by the slender stalk in the centre. They are pale green and can have a purple tinge or underside. At night they fold back like umbrellas, and will flatten out again at daybreak.
Flowers: are white with five purple-veined petals. The flowers close at night and when it rains, bowing their heads as if sleeping. In spring, wood sorrel develops tiny flowers the size of pinheads which remain closed.
Could be confused with: lesser trefoil (Trifolium dubium), which is similar in appearance to wood sorrel. Both grow close to the ground and have green three-lobed leaflets. However, wood sorrel leaves are heart-shaped, whereas those of lesser clover are egg-shaped.
Credit: Laurie Campbell / WTML
Wood sorrel grows in woods throughout the UK and is particularly associated with ancient woodland, as it relies on undisturbed soil. A lover of cool, damp spaces, wood sorrel is one of the few herbs able to grow in the deep shade of conifer plantations. Fresh green clusters of wood sorrel can also be spotted in grasslands, hedgerows and even gardens.
Wood sorrel’s Latin name reflects the taste of the leaves, with Oxalis stemming from the Greek word for 'acid' and acetosella coming from the Latin for 'vinegary' or 'sour'.
Wood sorrel provides a variety of benefits to wildlife. The spring flowers are a valuable source of nectar and pollen for early pollinating insects, while the leaves are nibbled by herbivores such as slugs, rabbits and deer. Growing close to the ground, wood sorrel plants also give shelter to invertebrates.
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Credit: Richard Becker / WTML
Wood sorrel has long been associated with St. Patrick, who is alleged to have used the plant's trifoliate leaves to illustrate the Holy Trinity. Wood sorrel is sometimes called a shamrock as a result, though the true shamrock title is commonly attributed to clovers instead.
The tangy, lemony taste of wood sorrel leaves can make them a tasty addition to salads or soups. They can also be used to make tea, drunk in the past as a treatment for ailments such as indigestion or fever. Caution should be taken though, as the oxalic acid that gives the leaves its characteristic taste can be toxic if consumed in large quantities.
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