# Oxyria digyna

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Species of flowering plant

Oxyria digyna Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Clade: Embryophytes Clade: Tracheophytes Clade: Spermatophytes Clade: Angiosperms Clade: Eudicots Order: Caryophyllales Family: Polygonaceae Genus: Oxyria Species: O. digyna Binomial name Oxyria digyna (L.) Hill

***Oxyria digyna*** (**mountain sorrel**,[1] **wood sorrel**, **Alpine sorrel** or **Alpine mountain-sorrel**) is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family ([Polygonaceae](/source/Polygonaceae)).[2] 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 10 to 30 cm (4 to 12 in). 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.[3] Forming dense, red tufts, the plant is easily recognized. *Oxyria digyna* grows in wet places protected by snow in winter. *Oxyria* (from [Greek](/source/Greek_language)) means "sour".[2]

## Distribution and habitat

Mountain sorrel is common in the [tundra](/source/Tundra) of the [Arctic](/source/Arctic). Further south, it has a [circumboreal distribution](/source/Circumboreal_Region), growing in high [mountainous](/source/Mountain) areas in the Northern Hemisphere such as the [Alps](/source/Alps), the [Sierra Nevada](/source/Sierra_Nevada_(U.S.)), and the [Cascade Range](/source/Cascade_Range). It typically grows in alpine meadows, scree, snow-bed sites and beside streams.[3] On the coast of Norway, the [pollen](/source/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 [glaciers](/source/Glacier).[3]

Deer and elk favor the plant.[4]

## Uses

The leaves of mountain sorrel have a sour or fresh acidic taste (due to [oxalic acid](/source/Oxalic_acid)) and are rich in [vitamin C](/source/Vitamin_C), containing about 36 mg/100 g.[5][6] They can be eaten raw or cooked.[6][7] They were used by the [Inuit](/source/Inuit) to prevent and cure [scurvy](/source/Scurvy). [*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Mountain sorrel has also been an important plant in [Saami](/source/Sami_people) diet. [8] The plant is important for both insects and larger animals that feed on it in arctic and alpine regions where it occurs.[9]

		- [Svalbard](/source/Svalbard)

		- Svalbard

		- [Mount Rainier National Park](/source/Mount_Rainier_National_Park)

		- [North Cascades National Park](/source/North_Cascades_National_Park)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-BSBI07_1-0)** [*BSBI List 2007*](https://web.archive.org/web/20150626140254/http://www.bsbi.org.uk/BSBIList2007.xls) (xls). [Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland](/source/Botanical_Society_of_Britain_and_Ireland). Archived from [the original](https://bsbi.org/download/3542/) (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-SNW_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-SNW_2-1) Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, Karen Wiese, 2nd ed., 2013, p. 108

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NatureGate_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NatureGate_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-NatureGate_3-2) ["Mountainsorrel: *Oxyria digyna*"](http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/mountain-sorrel). NatureGate. Retrieved 2013-12-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Reiner, Ralph E. (1969). *Introducing the Flowering Beauty of Glacier National Park and the Majestic High Rockies*. Glacier Park, Inc. p. 122.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Vitamin C in the Diet of Inuit Hunters From Holman, Northwest Territories"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180819212258/http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic32-2-135.pdf) (PDF). Archived from [the original](http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic32-2-135.pdf) (PDF) on 2018-08-19. Retrieved 2007-12-09.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_6-1) Fagan, Damian (2019). *Wildflowers of Oregon: A Field Guide to Over 400 Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of the Coast, Cascades, and High Desert*. Guilford, CT: [FalconGuides](/source/FalconGuides). p. 217. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4930-3633-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4930-3633-2). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [1073035766](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1073035766).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Elias, Thomas S.; Dykeman, Peter A. (2009) [1982]. *Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods*. New York: [Sterling](/source/Sterling_Publishing). p. 153. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4027-6715-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4027-6715-9). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [244766414](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/244766414).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Qvarnström, Elin (8 January 2007). [""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"](https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/10844/). *Epsilon Archive for Student Projects*. SLU, Dept. of Forest Ecology and Management, Umeå. Umeå: SLU, Dept. of Forest Ecology and Management. Retrieved 18 October 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** 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.

## External links

- Media related to [Oxyria digyna](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Oxyria_digyna) at Wikimedia Commons

- [Jepson Manual Treatment](http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?5936,6234,6235)

- [Photo gallery](http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Oxyria+digyna)

Taxon identifiers Oxyria digyna Wikidata: Q1444183 Wikispecies: Oxyria digyna Calflora: 6022 CoL: 4BK2P EoL: 585557 EPPO: OXIDI EUNIS: 177715 FNA: 200006711 FoC: 200006711 GBIF: 2889358 GRIN: 26241 iNaturalist: 67591 IPNI: 694858-1 IRMNG: 10762116 ITIS: 20846 NatureServe: 2.155529 NBN: NBNSYS0000003772 NCBI: 284366 NZOR: 16d59e97-273d-4ae8-8f2a-9daafe37b291 NZPCN: 4755 Observation.org: 120230 Open Tree of Life: 514120 PfaF: Oxyria digyna PFI: 394 Plant List: kew-2396529 PLANTS: OXDI3 POWO: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:694858-1 SEINet: 3 Tropicos: 26000047 VASCAN: 8138 WFO: wfo-0000388320 Rumex digynus Wikidata: Q21877254 CoL: 4TPM6 GBIF: 4034705 GRIN: 32533 IPNI: 304669-2 ITIS: 823830 POWO: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:304669-2 Tropicos: 50065186 WFO: wfo-0000403394

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Oxyria digyna](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyria_digyna) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyria_digyna?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.