Rumex acetosaL.

Common Sorrelgarden sorrel

WFO wfo-0000403595 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Rumex acetosa, photographed by Jon Mortin
fig. a Jon Mortin, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-10 / obs. 205596177
Rumex acetosa, photographed by lauraclapham
fig. b lauraclapham, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205986703
Rumex acetosa, photographed by Charlie Farrell
fig. c Charlie Farrell, CC0 1.0 / obs. 204686176
Rumex acetosa, photographed by Daniel Cahen
fig. d Daniel Cahen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203369592
Rumex acetosa, photographed by Marco Mussita
fig. e Marco Mussita, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203139746
Rumex acetosa, photographed by Силаева Татьяна Борисовна
fig. f Силаева Татьяна Борисовна, CC0 1.0 / obs. 201672133
Rumex acetosa, photographed by David Lazarus
fig. g David Lazarus, CC0 1.0 / obs. 201530139
Rumex acetosa, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. h Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 200545029

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 73 botanical countries

Regions where Rumex acetosa is native: Morocco, Afghanistan, Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Irkutsk, Japan, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Manchuria, Mongolia, Nansei-shoto, North Caucasus, Primorye, Qinghai, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tuva, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Nepal, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, Føroyar, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine MoroccoAfghanistanAltayAmurBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastChitaInner MongoliaIranIrkutskJapanKazakhstanKhabarovskKirgizstanKrasnoyarskManchuriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusPrimoryeQinghaiTadzhikistanTaiwanTibetTranscaucasusTuvaUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangNepalPakistanWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyHungaryIcelandIrelandItalyKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine KoreaNansei-shotoBalearesFøroyarSardegna
Native distribution of Rumex acetosa, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baleares BAL
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
Føroyar FOR
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Hungary HUN
Iceland ICE
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Altay ALT
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Chita CTA
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
Nansei-shoto NNS
North Caucasus NCS
Primorye PRM
Qinghai CHQ
Tadzhikistan TZK
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Nepal NEP ASIA-TROPICAL
Pakistan PAK
West Himalaya WHM
Morocco MOR AFRICA

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 259 in flower of 533 examined

Peak flowering in Jun. Each bar is the share of Rumex acetosa observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 259 of 533 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 3 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 24 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Acetosa agrestis Raf.
  • Acetosa amplexicaulis Raf.
  • Acetosa angustata Raf.
  • Acetosa bidentula Raf.
  • Acetosa fontanopaludosa (Kalela) Holub
  • Acetosa hastifolia Schur
  • Acetosa hastulata Raf.
  • Acetosa hibernica (Rech.f.) Holub
  • Acetosa magna Gilib.
  • Acetosa officinalis Gueldenst. ex Ledeb.
  • Acetosa olitoria Raf.
  • Acetosa pratensis Mill.
  • Acetosa pratensis Garsault
  • Acetosa pratensis subsp. fontanopaludosa (Kalela) Tzvelev
  • Acetosa subalpina Schur
  • Acetosa vinealis (Timb.-Lagr. & Jeanb.) Holub
  • Rumex acetosa subsp. acetosa
  • Rumex acetosa subsp. biformis (Lange) Valdés Berm. & Castrov.
  • Rumex acetosa subsp. fontanopaludosus (Kalela) Hyl.
  • Rumex acetosa var. fontanopaludosus (Kalela) Hyl.
  • Rumex biformis Lange
  • Rumex fontanopaludosus Kalela
  • Rumex hibernicus Rech.f.
  • Rumex vinealis Timb.-Lagr. & Jeanb.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.