oxalis

oxalis

oxalis

Lemony fun citrus-like tangy flavor, can be used as seasoning for fish etc. Superficially resembles clover (3 heart-shaped leaves joined at tip) 5 petal flowers can be white, pink, red or yellow. The edible root tubers look like small red and white fingerling potatoes. Tastes great and lots of people eat it, but don't eat large amounts at once because of high levels of oxalic acid which binds calcium and is hard on the kidneys. It forms calcium oxalate which is insoluble.

Edible Plant Guide © 2012 Markus Rothkranz

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Oxalis

 

a genus of plants of the family Oxalidaceae. They are perennial and, less frequently, annual herbs; some are subshrubs. The leaves are alternate and usually ternately or palmately compound. The flowers are pentamerous; the fruit is a capsule. There are approximately 800 species, distributed primarily in Southern Africa, South America, and Mexico. Six species are found in the USSR. The European wood sorrel, or sheep sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), which is often found in shady coniferous forests, is a small stemless plant with a creeping rhizome. The trifoliate bracts fold up at night and in overcast weather. The flowers, which are solitary, are white with pinkish violet veins. The leaves of the European wood sorrel, like those of the procumbent yellow sorrel (O. corniculata), contain vitamin C and oxalic acid; they are toxic to sheep when consumed in large quantities. Some African and American species are cultivated in a number of countries for their edible tubers. Many species are cultivated as ornamentals.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.