Mouth-wateringly tasty sour leaf for quenching thirst on hot summer meadow walks.

The name sorrel comes from the German word for ‘sour leaf’ – they contain several mild acids which give the plant its refreshing sour flavor, making it a much-loved wild salad ingredient. Sorrel belongs to the Dock family, which includes other sour-tasting plants such as dock and rhubarb.

Dock family plants are exceptional for not engaging in mutualistic relationships with fungi – most plant families partner with fungi, feeding them with sugars in return for scarce nutrients such as phosphate and nitrates and water stored in fungal mycelium. Docks are better than many plants at obtaining their own phosphate. They also produce antimicrobial compounds so they don’t need fungi to ward off diseases for them – a role which fungi often play in plant-fungi partnerships.

So wild communities are not a one-size-fits-all situation: each living thing has its niche, so they get what they need in many different ways!