Japanese name: ヒメスイバ（姫酸葉） Scientific name:Rumex acetosella
[Overview]
A perennial 10–50 cm tall, found on roadsides and wasteland.
It has slender underground stems that creep sideways.
The stem is thin and branches well.
There are basal leaves and stem leaves; the basal leaves are hastate, 2–7 cm long and 0.5–3 cm wide, with the base projecting like ears, and have long petioles.
Several stem leaves are produced, and those on the upper part of the stem are linear-lanceolate and sessile.
It is dioecious.
Conical inflorescences at the stem tips bear dense small flowers.
There is no corolla; the female flowers are dark red, and the male flowers are pale green, often tinged with red.
The fruit is an achene enclosed in the calyx.
The calyx does not enlarge after flowering and does not become wing-like as in Suiba.
[History]
It is thought to have arrived in the early Meiji period and has become naturalized throughout Japan.
[Notes]
Like Suiba, it contains oxalic acid, so it has a sour taste.
