# Wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella)

**Swedish: Harsyra | English: Wood Sorrel | Family: Sorrel family (Oxalidaceae)**

The wood sorrel (*Oxalis acetosella*) is aptly called **Harsyra** (hare sour) in Swedish. It forms dense, light green carpets on shady forest floors.

Its clover-like leaves react highly sensitively to shock and darkness: when it rains heavily or when night falls, they fold down like an umbrella.

## FAQs

- **How does harsyra taste?**: Refreshingly sour! In Sweden, children and hikers like to snack on the leaves right in the forest.
- **Can you eat sorrel in large quantities?**: No. It contains oxalic acid and should only be used in small quantities as a salad herb.
- **What color flowers do wood sorrel have?**: Delicate white with fine pink-violet vein markings.
- **Why do the leaves collapse?**: A protection mechanism against excessive evaporation and mechanical damage caused by heavy rain.
- **When is the flowering time?**: May to June.
- **Where can you find wood sorrel near Burträsk?**: In humus, shady spruce and fir forests on moist moss ground.


## Weitere Informationen

- Botanical illustration: Wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), in Swedish'Harsyra'.
- Delicate forest herb with three-leaf clover leaves, reddish-veined white flowers and a refreshingly sour taste.