French Sorrel is a low growing, flowering, creeping, herbaceous perennial in the buckwheat family that is native to Europe and Asia. The leaves are commonly used as a culinary herb. French Sorrell is preferred to other sorrel species by many food experts because it is less acidic. It usually reaches a mature height of 2 feet from a 3 foot wide clump. Small greenish-red flowers appear in summer. French Sorrel does best in average, medium, well-drained soil in full sun. It self-seeds and can spread in the garden. The plants can tolerate drought, frost, and wind once established, but it does not do well with maritime salt. It will self-seed in the garden and is mat forming; in some situations, it could be used as a ground cover. Remove flowers immediately to promote leaf growth. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No known diseases or insect pests.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.