Rumex Acetosa
This is a stout perennial herb to three feet tall, and has long been used as a potherb in Europe. The tender sour-tasting young leaves used in mixed salads, or cooked as greens, contain large amounts of potassium oxalate. Eating quantities of raw leaves has resulted in human poisoning and loss of livestock. Leaves, if cooked after one change of water, are considered safe. Oxalate poisoning may appear within two to six hours after ingesting large amounts of the leaves. Symptoms are loss of appetite, listlessness, laboured breathing, loss of muscle control, depression, coma, and occasionally death within ten hours.
Previous Plant Page Back to Poison Plant Index Next Plant Page
Brian and Jane Pinkerton
29343 Galahad Crescent
Mount Lehman
British Columbia
Canada V4X 2E4
Phone: 604-856-3196
e-mail address:
Mount Lehman Llamas Farm Page Llama Question and Answer Page Llama Trivia