Cape Sorrel
Oxalis pes-caprae
Also known as
African Wood-Sorrel, Bermuda Buttercup, Englishweed, Buttercup Oxalis, Drooping Wood-Sorrel, Large Yellow Soursob, Soursob, Yellow-Flower Oxalis
Full Sun
Easy care
Frequent watering
Frost Hardy
9a
USDA zone
-7°C
Minimum temperature
Expected size
Height | Spread | |
|---|---|---|
30cm | Max | 20cm |
10cm | Min | 10cm |
Flowering
-
spring
-
summer
-
autumn
-
winter
This plant has no fragrance
More images of Cape Sorrel
Cape Sorrel Overview
Cape sorrel are such a common weed in gardens that one rarely ever stop to notice it. As kids, we collected the flowers with stems intact and chewed on them for their pleasant sour taste. The yellow flowers light up in the sunlight and close at night to reopen again, once in the sun's rays. Cape sorrel is also very commonly used in Waterblommetjiebredie, a culinary dish in South Africa. Cape sorrel is clasified as an invasive species in South Africa and can be very difficult to eliminate if it's spread across a large area.
Common problems with Cape Sorrel
Generally pest free.
How to harvest Cape Sorrel
When harvesting flowers and leaves, pick or cut as desired, preferably early morning.
How to propagate Cape Sorrel
Rhizomes
Underground stems(stolons) and bulbs spread rapidly.
Bulbs
You can propagate by division of the bulbs in autumn or early spring.
Division
Seed
From seed in autumn.
Special features of Cape Sorrel
Other uses of Cape Sorrel
Grown for their colourful flowers (which in bud are rolled like an umbrella), and their often attractive leaves.
Medicinal
Functions as an analgesic, antipyrectic, anti-inflammatory, depurative and scorpion anitdote.
Edible
With a pleasant sour flavours, cape sorrel is used in a popular South African dish, Waterblommetjie bredie.
