Subject: Re: Help me identify "Sheepshower"

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 12:58:33 UNDEFINED

>I remember from my childhood a plant that looked
>something like clover...3 small oval leaves about
>1/4" off the ground and a mostly-purple stem that
>had a sour taste.  I knew  people that ate them
>and called them "sheepshowers"--something recently
>stirred my memory so I asked other people and
>noone else has heard of them.  By the way, they
>grew in the slightly hilly country of NE Oklahoma.

>I am curious to know the common and/or proper name
>and whether or not they are generally considered
>edible.

Sounds as if it may be a species of _Oxalis_, which I believe can sometimes be 
called "sheep sorrel"---other common names include "wood sorrel" and "lady's 
sorrel."  It does have a sour taste and is edible, though the fairly high 
oxalic acid content means you shouldn't eat too much (especially, they say, if 
you are prone to kidney stones....)

Hope this gets you started on the right track.

Monique Reed
Texas A&M

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From: [email-masked] (Tim Dugan)
Date: 28 Aug 1996 12:54:00 -0500

-t

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From: [email-masked] (Howard Clase)
Date: 29 Aug 1996 12:12:45 GMT

>you are prone to kidney stones....)

	I agree.  I think "shower" must be a corruption of "sour".   If you
do eat it don't follow it with rhubarb, that has oxalic acid too!  

		Howard Clase

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From: [email-masked](charles mccarthy)
Date: 29 Aug 1996 18:39:27 GMT

In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Howard
>do eat it don't follow it with rhubarb, that has oxalic acid too!  

Actually, sheep sorrel is a different genus- Rumex.  Rumex acetosella 
has the same sour taste as Oxalis.  However, Rumex has a short,
slender, pointed leaf that is used as a garnish in salads.  You eat 
the stems of oxalis.

Of course, you don't eat anything at all unless you know what it is!

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From: [email-masked] (Tim Dugan)
Date: 29 Aug 1996 16:43:41 -0500

In article <[email-masked]>,
charles mccarthy <[email-masked]> wrote:
>>>>had a sour taste.  [....]
>>>Sounds as if it may be a species of _Oxalis_, which I believe can
>>>sometimes be called "sheep sorrel"---other common names include 
>>>"wood sorrel" and "lady's sorrel."  It does have a sour taste 
>>>and is edible, though the fairly high 
>>>oxalic acid content [....]
>>
>>	I agree.  I think "shower" must be a corruption of "sour".   If
>>you do eat it don't follow it with rhubarb, that has oxalic acid too!  
>[...]

So, you are saying it is NOT "sheep sorrel"?  I don't think the
leaves were pointed (although it has been a while) and it definitely
was the stem which has the sour taste.  And you are saying it is not
unheard of to eat them?

>Of course, you don't eat anything at all unless you know what it is!

Well, you would think...but sometimes people think they know but
they don't!

-t

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 17:46:04 UNDEFINED

>was the stem which has the sour taste.  And you are saying it is not

Proof once again that common names can trip you up!  Both Rumex and Oxalis 
have common names that include the word "sorrel"--and these names will vary 
>from  region to region--they aren't standardized in any way.  Both have some 
species that are edible.  Most Rumex species have simple leaves; most Oxalis 
leaves are 3-parted and look a lot like clover, except that the leaflets are 
often heart-shaped.

I repeat my original advice--check out a book on wildflowers or native plants 
to figure out which you have.

Monique Reed
Texas A&M

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From: "Raydon Eiland Alexander" <[email-masked]>
Date: 30 Aug 1996 14:57:49 GMT

Sheep Sorrel, Rumex acetosella (Polygonaceae, Buckwheat Family) would be a
possible match though the three part leaves are really arrow shaped rather
than clover like. A number of Rumex species have been used as salad greens:
R. Acetosa, R. alpinus, R. hymenosepalus, R. Patientia, for example so the
leaves are likely to be edible.

Tim Dugan <[email-masked]> wrote in article
<[email-masked]>...

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From: [email-masked] (BRateaver)
Date: 13 Oct 1996 20:44:17 -0400

Anything with oxalic acid in it---be sure to cook with milk, or if used
raw in salad, be sure to drink milk with it, or eat plain yogurst. If you
don't, the oxalic acid tends to pick up calcium from bone to make calcium
oxalate crystals.  Milk can provide the calcium, so no need for the acid
to take it from bones or teeth.

B. Rateaver