common sorrel seems so much more sour at this time of year, i tried some a week ago and it hurt my tong its that sour, has anyone else had this experience?
common sorrel
- Thread starter Bluefrog
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Be very careful!
A fairly common error when picking sorrel is to pick Lords & Ladies instead. This is the small mace of bright red berries that arrive in mid-late summer. Every bit of this plant is poisonous, with the leaves acting as a strong irritant.
L&L leaves are very similar in shape to sorrel, although the wings at the back of the arrow-head shape tend to be more rounded, while sorrel has sharp backward pointing tips. Also, L&L tends to be slightly more glossy with a balloon-rubber-like feel in the more mature leaves - Sorrel is more succulant. At this time of year, look out for a green spike sticking up in the middle of the plant, which is the spadix (male organ) of the L&L, surrounded by it's leaf sheath - it's rather fallic if you peel the surrounding leaf away.
Finally, L&L tends to grow in/near woodland, whereas common sorrel tends to grow in rough-ish pasture near the shelter of dips and hedges.
Common sorrel may well be peppery/sharp, but WILL NOT hurt your toung. It sounds like you have made the above mistake.
I reccommend cross-referencing with several id-ing books before eating anything from the wild.
River Cottage Hedgerow Handbook is good as it helpfully points out dangerous look-alikes.
Good luck
Mark
A fairly common error when picking sorrel is to pick Lords & Ladies instead. This is the small mace of bright red berries that arrive in mid-late summer. Every bit of this plant is poisonous, with the leaves acting as a strong irritant.
L&L leaves are very similar in shape to sorrel, although the wings at the back of the arrow-head shape tend to be more rounded, while sorrel has sharp backward pointing tips. Also, L&L tends to be slightly more glossy with a balloon-rubber-like feel in the more mature leaves - Sorrel is more succulant. At this time of year, look out for a green spike sticking up in the middle of the plant, which is the spadix (male organ) of the L&L, surrounded by it's leaf sheath - it's rather fallic if you peel the surrounding leaf away.
Finally, L&L tends to grow in/near woodland, whereas common sorrel tends to grow in rough-ish pasture near the shelter of dips and hedges.
Common sorrel may well be peppery/sharp, but WILL NOT hurt your toung. It sounds like you have made the above mistake.
I reccommend cross-referencing with several id-ing books before eating anything from the wild.
River Cottage Hedgerow Handbook is good as it helpfully points out dangerous look-alikes.
Good luck
Mark
Mark is right. It was Arum maculatum (lords and ladies, cuckoo pint) and it hurt your tongue because it contains thousands of tiny needle-sharp crystals which embed themselves in the soft tissues of your mouth and throat. It's a bit like eating fibreglass.
The easiest way to not confuse cuckoo pint with anything is to look at the leaf....i mean it will have a line all around the edge of the leaf stopping the viens of the leaf reaching the very edge if the leaf has this it is L and L if it doesnt have this its not, but doesnt guarantee it sorrel!!!
http://gb.fotolibra.com/images/previews/408926-cuckoo-pint-leaf.jpeg Cuckoo pint with 'line'
http://www.ediblebritain.co.uk/images/plant/Sorrel_01829.JPG sorrel
http://gb.fotolibra.com/images/previews/408926-cuckoo-pint-leaf.jpeg Cuckoo pint with 'line'
http://www.ediblebritain.co.uk/images/plant/Sorrel_01829.JPG sorrel
