Sorrel

Common sorrel or garden sorrel (Rumex acetosa), often simply called sorrel, is a perennial herb in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock. It is a common plant in grassland habitats and is cultivated as a garden herb or leaf vegetable (pot herb).

Description

Sorrel is a slender herbaceous perennial plant about 60 centimetres (24 in) high, with roots that run deep into the ground, as well as juicy stems and edible, arrow-shaped (sagittate) leaves. The leaves, when consumed raw, taste like a sour green apple candy. The lower leaves are 7 to 15 centimetres (2.8 to 5.9 in) in length with long petioles and a membranous ocrea formed of fused, sheathing stipules. The upper ones are sessile, and frequently become crimson. It has whorled spikes of reddish-green flowers, which bloom in early summer, becoming purplish. The species is dioecious, with stamens and pistils on different plants.

The leaves are eaten by the larvae of several species of Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) including the blood-vein moth.

Sorrel (disambiguation)

Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) is a perennial herb cultivated as a leaf vegetable

Sorrel may also refer to:

Plants

Horses

People

Places

Sorrel (horse)

Sorrel is an alternative word for one of the most common equine coat colors in horses. While the term is usually used to refer to a copper-red shade of chestnut, in some places it is used generically in place of "chestnut" to refer to any reddish horse with a same-color or lighter mane and tail, ranging from reddish-gold to a deep burgundy or chocolate shade. The term probably comes from the color of the flower spike of the sorrel herb.

The term "chestnut" is the more common term used to describe horses of a reddish-brown color. Chestnut is more often used to describe this color in England and on the east coast of the United States, while the term "sorrel" is more common in the Western United States. Some horse enthusiasts insist that chestnut and sorrel are two distinct colorations, but there is no known genetic difference between the two and no clear consensus on what the distinction is. Some argue that "sorrel" should be used to describe only lighter shades, or shades with a very clear reddish tint, while "chestnut" denotes darker shades or shades with more brown in them. The American Quarter Horse Association, which uses both terms, describes a sorrel as a type of copper-red chestnut, but allows that chestnut is also a correct term.