Pest Profile
Red Sorrel (Sheep Sorrel)
Rumex acetosella
Pest Description
Taken from the Missouri Weed ID Guide: http://weedid.missouri.edu//weedinfo.cfm?weed_id=245
| Weed Description: A perennial from rhizomes with distinctive arrowhead-shaped leaves and red flowering stems. Red sorrel is primarily a weed of turfgrass, lawns, roadsides, landscapes, and some nursery crops. It is found throughout the United States. |
| Seedlings: Cotyledons are oblong, without hairs, reaching 10 mm in length. Cotyledons and young leaves usually have a mealy cast on the leaf surfaces. The first true leaf is egg-shaped in outline and occurs on a short petiole. The distinctive arrowhead-shaped leaves develop later. |
| Leaves: Distinctively arrowhead-shaped due to 2 lobes that occur at the base of the leaves. Most leaves occur in the basal rosette, however some stem leaves occur also. Basal leaves are approximately 1 to 3 inches long, without hairs (glabrous), and occur on petioles. Leaves on the flowering stem are arranged alternately and are usually linear in outline (not usually arrowhead-shaped), without distinctive petioles. All leaves have a thin membranous sheath (ocrea) surrounding the stem at the point of the leaf petiole attachment. |
| Stems: Flowering stems are erect, reaching 18 inches in height, branching in the upper portions only. Stems are ridged and often maroon-tinted. |
| Flowers: Occur in clusters on the flowering stems. Flowers can be either yellowish-green in color (male) or red to maroon in color (female). |
| Fruit: An achene that is also red to maroon in color. |
| Roots: A taproot and rhizomes. |
| Identifying Characteristics: The arrowhead-shaped leaves that develop in a basal rosette and the red to maroon-tinged flowering stems are both characteristics that distinguish red sorrel from most other species. |