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
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Read more about Sheep Sorrel at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
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.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_ruac3_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_ruac3_007_lvd
)
USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970 swus_page_129
)
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.
)
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).
)
JK Marlow jkm130430_902
April Spartanburg County SC
)
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
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)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
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!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p164
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p530
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p402
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p395
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p003
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p063
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p295
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p062
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p084
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p321
- Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses (Murphy et al., 1992) p165
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".