OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Acetosa acetosella   FAMILY Polygonaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rumex acetosella   FAMILY Polygonaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Rumex acetosella

INCLUDING New England Wildflower Society’s Flora Novae Angliae (Haines, 2011)

Rumex acetosella ssp. pyrenaicus

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 5 (2005)

Rumex acetosella

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Rumex acetosella

INCLUDING The taxonomy of Acetosella (Love, 1983)

Acetosella vulgaris ssp. pyrenaica

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 063-02-001:

Rumex acetosella   FAMILY Polygonaceae

INCLUDING Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)

Rumex acetosella var. acetosella

INCLUDING (ORTHOGRAPHIC ERROR) Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)

Rumex acetosella var. pyrenaeus

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Acetosella acetosella

 

COMMON NAME:
Sheep Sorrel, Red Dock, Sourgrass, Field Sorrel


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Acetosa acetosella, Sheep Sorrel, Red Dock, Sourgrass, Field Sorrel

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_ruac3_001_lvd

        

image of Acetosa acetosella, Sheep Sorrel, Red Dock, Sourgrass, Field Sorrel

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_ruac3_007_lvd

        

image of Acetosa acetosella, Sheep Sorrel, Red Dock, Sourgrass, Field Sorrel

USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970    swus_page_129

        

image of Acetosa acetosella, Sheep Sorrel, Red Dock, Sourgrass, Field Sorrel

JK Marlow    jkm0304p_32a

April    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

In several respects a smaller version of R. hastatulus, without sepal wings, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

image of Acetosa acetosella, Sheep Sorrel, Red Dock, Sourgrass, Field Sorrel

JK Marlow    jkm0304r_25

April    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

R. acetosella is rarely found in sandy soils, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Acetosa acetosella, Sheep Sorrel, Red Dock, Sourgrass, Field Sorrel

JK Marlow    jkm130430_902

April    Spartanburg County    SC

image of Acetosa acetosella, Sheep Sorrel, Red Dock, Sourgrass, Field Sorrel

JK Marlow    jkm160827_707

August    Henderson County    NC

Bearwallow Mountain

Well-developed leaves with sagittate base (the lobes pointing downward, ~ parallel to petiole), per Weakley's Flora (2022).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Acetosa acetosella   FAMILY Polygonaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rumex acetosella   FAMILY Polygonaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Rumex acetosella

INCLUDING New England Wildflower Society’s Flora Novae Angliae (Haines, 2011)
Rumex acetosella ssp. pyrenaicus

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 5
Rumex acetosella

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Rumex acetosella

INCLUDING The taxonomy of Acetosella (Love, 1983)
Acetosella vulgaris ssp. pyrenaica

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 063-02-001:
Rumex acetosella   FAMILY Polygonaceae

INCLUDING Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Rumex acetosella var. acetosella

INCLUDING (ORTHOGRAPHIC ERROR) Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Rumex acetosella var. pyrenaeus

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Acetosella acetosella

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1283

Forb
Perennial
Dioecious

Habitat: Pastures, fields, roadsides, rock outcrops, grassy balds, gardens, per Weakley's Flora

Non-native: Eurasia

Common (uncommon in GA Coastal Plain)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.


Invasive?

This plant may be causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:

 

LEAVES:
Simple
Basal rosette & alternate

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Creamy-yellow/ Pinkish-red
6 sepals of two different sizes
Petals absent
5 stamens
Superior ovary
Unisexual

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Brown
Nutlet

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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