2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Horse sorrel (lat. Rumex confertus) - herbaceous perennial, which is a representative of the Buckwheat family. Among the people, it is often called aveluk, hernia moth, thick sorrel, and horse or frog sour.
Description
Horse sorrel is a herbaceous perennial, endowed with multi-headed, weakly branched, rather thick and at the same time short rhizomes, equipped with a huge number of adventitious roots. The furrowed erect stems of the plant are usually bare and most often solitary, and in the upper parts they branch. Their thickness often reaches two centimeters, and their height varies from ninety centimeters to one and a half meters.
The leaves of the horse sorrel are rosette and always alternate, while the lower stem leaves boast heart-shaped bases and a bizarre elongated triangular-ovoid shape. At the tops, the leaves are usually blunt, and at the edges they are slightly wavy, while their length can reach twenty-five centimeters, and their width ranges from twelve to thirteen centimeters. The lower parts of the leaf blades, especially along the veins, are densely pubescent with short and very stiff hairs. All leaves of horse sorrel are petiolate, while the upper leaves sit on rather short petioles. And near the bases of the petioles, you can see the reddish and slightly scarious mouths covering the stems. By the way, these leaves do not taste sour at all.
Miniature bisexual flowers, painted in greenish-yellowish tones, form tiny whorls, which, in turn, fold into dense, rather long and very narrow paniculate inflorescences. The flowers of the plant are equipped with simple six-petal perianths, and their inner lobes, located in the immediate vicinity of the fruit, are usually reticulate, rounded-heart-shaped and characterized by jagged edges. On one of these lobes, a rather large bile usually develops, and on the rest, smaller bile is formed. The stigma of the flowers is racemose, and the ovaries are unilocular. As a rule, the flowering of horse sorrel occurs in May or June.
The fruits of this plant are brownish oval and triangular nuts, the length of which ranges from four to seven millimeters. And these fruits usually ripen in June or July. At the same time, they do not fall off and are able to hang on the branches all winter.
Where grows
On the territory of the European part of the former CIS, this plant is distributed almost everywhere. The only exception is the Far North. And it grows mainly in the forest-steppe or forest zones, however, along the river valleys, horse sorrel can sometimes reach the steppe zone. It thrives best on wet soils.
Application
All kinds of dishes made from the leaves of this plant are very popular in Azerbaijan and Armenia. True, they do not use fresh leaves, but dried ones - in the process of drying them, fermentation occurs, due to which the characteristic bitterness is lost and the leaves acquire a pleasant taste. And the Uzbeks eat young leaves along with the stalks. By the way, in lean years, tiny fruits with stalks were ground and mixed with flour prepared for baking bread.
Horse sorrel leaves, as well as fruits, are excellent food for rabbits, chickens and geese with pigs. This plant is also used in medicine.
Extracts from rhizomes and roots are actively used to obtain yellow paint, and if etched with iron vitriol, it will acquire a rich black color. As for the stalks with leaves, then you can get a green paint from them. In addition, rhizomes are often used for tanning leather.
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