'Nelson' Dwarf Sorrel
"I took for confidant
The diligent ant
Threading the clover & the sorrel aisle."
-Clinton Scollard
(1860-1932)
(1860-1932)
Oxalis magellanica var flora-pleno 'Nelson' is an eency weency semi-evergreen sorrel forms a tight low groundcover of one inch height, sprinkled with round fully double white flowers on two-inch stems. It blooms twice a year, May/June & December/January.
Bound to get lost in any garden, it is ideal as a creeping, spreading groundcover under bonsai trees or other potted plants.
The regular single species is circumpolar in distribution found in the far south of South America, the Falklands, as far north as Bolivia, & in southern Australia. The double-flowered 'Nelson' is from South America.
It prefers damp partial shade & will quickly shrivel up in too much sun. The leaves will be very green in deep shade, but in bright shade the leaves will become bronzy in summer. It's cold-hardy but not very heat-hardy. It can succeed between pavers, & in some conditions can become weedy.
As with other species of oxalis, it is edible on salads, though a great deal can be harmful for its tart oxalic acid content, which breaks down if the leaves are cooked.