Consider-the-Lilies Web Gallery
Sour Grass
This is, with Common Milkweed, a plant that I recall from my childhood.
I can remember one lazy summer afternoon in the 1940's, a young playmate's older brother—the older sibling was probably all of six-years old—identified this yellow flowered plant as "sauerkraut" plant.
I probably didn't even know what sauerkraut was, but I took a piece of stem to chew and, while it wasn't sauerkraut, I would learn later, I did find that Sour Grass had a pleasantly sour taste.
Having become a fan of the taste, I asked my mother if we could have sauerkraut for dinner one day and offered to harvest some from the lawn.
She did prepare the dish for me, but to my disappointment, with the usual cabbage recipe!
It wasn't particularly good to my young taste buds, so on those long-ago, lazy summer afternoons of my boyhood when I wanted a sour chew, I picked a stem or two from the "sauerkraut plant."
And, still when I come across it every so often, I'll sometimes end up with a wad in my cheek, just for old times sake!
Crystals of oxalic acid found in the stems of this shamrock-like plant, which is also known as Wood Oxalis or Yellow Wood Sorrel, make this "wad" pleasantly sour.
(Jack-in-the-Pulpit, from a different family, also carries oxalic acid crystals in its leaves.)
Fortunately, for curious little boys—and old men—a small, occasional chew of a salty and refreshing cud is reportedly not hazardous.
Oxalic acid as a regular part of one's diet, however, can lead to nutritional deficiencies and is considered to be toxic. One popular household scouring powder uses oxalic acid as an ingredient to aid in cutting through grease.
An immigrant from Europe, Oxalis stricta, is commonly seen along the edge of fields and lawns.
The botanical prefix, Oxalis, in Latin—from the Greek, oxys —and the common name, sorrel, in Old French, surele, are the words for "sour or bitter" in these languages.
The fruit stands upright, thus the scientific suffix, stricta, for "upright growth". (See the seed pods to the left. )
They remind me of an ear of corn (maize).
(Sour Grass has a native relative, Violet Wood Sorrel, that sports the same three-lobed "shamrock" foliage and acidic taste but displays a subtle violet and green blossom. Click above to visit this room)
As I hope is apparent from the images, this import to eastern North America from across the Atlantic, although not appreciated by those desiring a pristine, weed-free lawn, is quite lovely up close. And besides offering a pretty yellow flower for our consideration, it also provides a refreshing chew for browsing "boys"—young and old!
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