{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Speciesbox |image = Alpine or Mountain Sorrel in Glacier National Park.jpg |genus = Oxyria |species = digyna |authority = ([[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]) [[John Hill (author)|Hill]] }}

'''''Oxyria digyna''''' ('''mountain sorrel''',<ref name=BSBI07>{{BSBI 2007 |access-date=2014-10-17 }}</ref> '''wood sorrel''', '''Alpine sorrel''' or '''Alpine mountain-sorrel''') is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family ([[Polygonaceae]]).<ref name=SNW>Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, Karen Wiese, 2nd ed., 2013, p. 108</ref> It is native to arctic regions and mountainous parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

==Description== Mountain sorrel is a perennial plant with a tough taproot; the plant grows to a height of {{convert|10|to|30|cm|0|abbr=on}}. It grows in dense tufts, with stems that are usually unbranched and hairless. Both flowering stems and leaf stalks are somewhat reddish. The leaves are kidney-shaped, somewhat fleshy, on stalks from the basal part of the stem. Flowers are small, green and later reddish, and are grouped in an open upright cluster. The fruit is a small nut, encircled by a broad wing which finally turns red.<ref name=NatureGate>{{cite web |url=http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/mountain-sorrel |title=Mountainsorrel: ''Oxyria digyna'' |publisher=NatureGate |access-date=2013-12-30}}</ref> Forming dense, red tufts, the plant is easily recognized. ''Oxyria digyna'' grows in wet places protected by snow in winter. ''Oxyria'' (from [[Greek language|Greek]]) means "sour".<ref name=SNW/>

==Distribution and habitat== Mountain sorrel is common in the [[tundra]] of the [[Arctic]]. Further south, it has a [[Circumboreal Region|circumboreal distribution]], growing in high [[mountain]]ous areas in the Northern Hemisphere such as the [[Alps]], the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]], and the [[Cascade Range]]. It typically grows in alpine meadows, scree, snow-bed sites and beside streams.<ref name=NatureGate/> On the coast of Norway, the [[pollen]] of this plant has been found in peat bogs that are 12,600 years old, indicating that it must have been one of the first plants to colonise the area after the retreating ice age [[glacier]]s.<ref name=NatureGate/>

Deer and elk favor the plant.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Reiner|first=Ralph E.|title=Introducing the Flowering Beauty of Glacier National Park and the Majestic High Rockies|publisher=Glacier Park, Inc.|year=1969|pages=122}}</ref>

==Uses== The leaves of mountain sorrel have a sour or fresh acidic taste (due to [[oxalic acid]]) and are rich in [[vitamin C]], containing about 36&nbsp;mg/100&nbsp;g.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic32-2-135.pdf |title=Vitamin C in the Diet of Inuit Hunters From Holman, Northwest Territories |access-date=2007-12-09 |archive-date=2018-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819212258/http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic32-2-135.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":0" /> They can be eaten raw or cooked.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Fagan|first=Damian|title=Wildflowers of Oregon: A Field Guide to Over 400 Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of the Coast, Cascades, and High Desert|publisher=[[FalconGuides]]|year=2019|isbn=978-1-4930-3633-2|location=Guilford, CT|pages=217|oclc=1073035766}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Elias|first1=Thomas S.|title=Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods|last2=Dykeman|first2=Peter A.|publisher=[[Sterling Publishing|Sterling]]|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4027-6715-9|location=New York|pages=153|oclc=244766414|orig-year=1982}}</ref> They were used by the [[Inuit]] to prevent and cure [[scurvy]]. {{Cn|date=October 2020}} Mountain sorrel has also been an important plant in [[Sami people|Saami]] diet. <ref>{{cite web |last1=Qvarnström |first1=Elin |title="De tycka emellertid av gammal vana att det smakar gott, och tro dessutom att det är bra för hälsan" : samiskt växtutnyttjande från 1600-talet fram till ca 1950. |url=https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/10844/ |website=Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |date=8 January 2007 |publisher=SLU, Dept. of Forest Ecology and Management, Umeå. Umeå: SLU, Dept. of Forest Ecology and Management |access-date=18 October 2023}}</ref> The plant is important for both insects and larger animals that feed on it in arctic and alpine regions where it occurs.<ref>Tolvanen, A., Alatalo, J.M. and Henry, G.H.R. 2004. "Resource allocation patterns in a forb and a sedge in two arctic environments - short-term response to herbivory". – ''Nordic Journal of Botany'' 22 (6): 741–747.</ref>

<gallery> File:Oxyria digyna - Mountsorrel-1.jpg|[[Svalbard]] File:Oxyria digyna - Mountsorrel2-1.jpg|Svalbard File:Oxyria_digyna_8596.JPG|[[Mount Rainier National Park]] File:Oxyria_digyna_4069.JPG|[[North Cascades National Park]] </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commons-inline}} *[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?5936,6234,6235 Jepson Manual Treatment] *[http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Oxyria+digyna Photo gallery]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1444183}}

[[Category:Polygonoideae]] [[Category:Alpine flora]] [[Category:Edible plants]] [[Category:Flora of Europe]] [[Category:Flora of Northern America]] [[Category:Flora of temperate Asia]]