Rumex. sp. et var.

Sorrel is a hardy perennial. The species, as well as varieties, differ to a considerable extent in height and general habit; yet their uses and culture are nearly alike.

_Soil and Cultivation._--All of the sorts thrive best in rich, moist soil; but may be grown in almost any soil or situation. The seeds are sown in April or May, in drills fifteen or eighteen inches apart, and covered half an inch in depth. The young plants should be thinned to twelve inches apart; and, in July and August, the leaves will be sufficiently large for gathering.

The varieties are propagated by dividing the roots in April or May; and this method must be adopted in propagating the dioecious kinds, when male plants are required. "The best plants, however, are obtained from seed; but the varieties, when sown, are liable to return to their original type. All the care necessary is to hoe the ground between the rows, when needed to fork it over in spring and autumn, and to take up the plants, divide and reset them every three or four years, or less frequently, if they are growing vigorously and produce full-sized leaves."

All of the sorts, whether produced from seeds or by parting the roots, will send up a flower-stalk in summer; and this it is necessary to cut out when first developed, in order to render the leaves larger and more tender.

The plants will require no special protection or care during the winter; though a slight covering of strawy, stable litter may be applied after the forking-over of the bed in the autumn, just before the closing-up of the ground.

_Use._--It enters into most of the soups and sauces for which French cookery is so famed, and they preserve it in quant.i.ties for winter use.

It forms as prominent an article in the markets of Paris as does Spinach in those of this country; and it has been a.s.serted, that, amongst all the recent additions to our list of esculent plants, "we have not one so wholesome, so easy of cultivation, or one that would add so much to the sanitary condition of the community, particularly of that cla.s.s who live much upon salt provisions."

The species and varieties are as follow:--

ALPINE SORREL.

Oseille des Neiges. _Vil._ Rumex nivalis.

A new, perennial species, found upon the Alps, near the line of perpetual snow. The root-leaves are somewhat heart-shaped, thick, and fleshy; stem simple, with verticillate branches; flower dioecious.

It is one of the earliest as well as the hardiest of the species, propagates more readily than Alpine plants in general, and is said to compare favorably in quality with the Mountain Sorrel or Patience Dock.

COMMON SORREL.

R. acetosa.

This is a hardy perennial, and, when fully grown, is about two feet in height. The flowers--which are small, very numerous, and of a reddish color--are dioecious, the fertile and barren blossoms being produced on separate plants; the seeds are small, triangular, smooth, of a brownish color, and retain their germinative properties two years. An ounce contains nearly thirty thousand seeds.

Of the Common Sorrel, there are five varieties, as follow:--

BELLEVILLE SORREL.

Broad-leaved. Oseille Large de Belleville. _Vil._

Leaves ten or twelve inches long by six inches in diameter; leaf-stems red at the base. Compared with the Common Garden Sorrel, the leaves are larger and less acid.

The variety is considered much superior to the last-named sort, and is the kind usually grown by market-gardeners in the vicinity of Paris.

It should be planted in rows eighteen inches apart, and the plants thinned to a foot apart in the rows.

BLISTERED-LEAF SORREL. _Trans._

Radical leaves nine inches long, four inches wide, oval-hastate or halberd-shaped, growing on long footstalks. The upper leaves are more blistered than those attached to the root; the flower-stems are short.

The princ.i.p.al difference between this variety and the Common, or Broad-leaved, consists in its blistered foliage.

It is slow in the development of its flower-stem, and consequently remains longer in season for use. The leaves are only slightly acid in comparison with those of the Common Sorrel. It is a perennial, and must be increased by a division of its roots; for being only a variety, and not permanently established, seedlings from it frequently return to the Belleville, from whence it sprung.

FERVENT'S NEW LARGE SORREL.

Oseille de Fervent. _Vil._

An excellent sort, with large, yellowish-green, blistered leaves and red leaf-stems. It is comparatively hardy, puts forth its leaves early, and produces abundantly.

The rows should be eighteen inches apart.

GREEN OR COMMON GARDEN SORREL.

Root-leaves large, halberd-shaped, and supported on stems six inches in length. The upper leaves are small, narrow, sessile, and clasping. A hardy sort; but, on account of its greater acidity, not so highly esteemed as the Belleville.

Sow in rows fifteen inches apart, and thin to eight or ten inches in the rows.

SARCELLE BLOND SORREL.

Blond de Sarcelle. _Vil._

This is a sub-variety of the Belleville, with longer and narrower leaves and paler leaf-stems. It puts forth its leaves earlier in the season than the Common Sorrel, and is of excellent quality. The seed rarely produces the variety in its purity, and it is generally propagated by dividing the roots.

ROUND-LEAVED ON FRENCH SORREL. _Thomp._

Roman Sorrel. Oseille rond. _Vil._ R. scutatus.

This is a hardy perennial, a native of France and Switzerland. Its stem is trailing, and from twelve to eighteen inches in height or length; the leaves vary in form, but are usually roundish-heart-shaped or halberd-shaped, smooth, glaucous, and entire on the borders; the flowers are hermaphrodite, yellowish; the leaves are more acid than those of the varieties of the preceding species, and for this reason are preferred by many.

The variety is hardy and productive, but not much cultivated.

It requires eighteen inches' s.p.a.ce between the rows, and a foot in the rows. There is but one variety.

MOUNTAIN SORREL.

Oseille verge. _Vil._ R. monta.n.u.s.

The leaves of this variety are large, oblong, of thin texture, and of a pale-green color; the root-leaves are numerous, about nine inches long and four inches wide, slightly blistered. It is later than the Common Garden Sorrel in running to flower; and is generally propagated by dividing the roots, but may also be raised from seeds. The leaves are remarkable for their acidity.

This is the _Rumex monta.n.u.s_ of modern botanists, though formerly considered as a variety of _R. acetosa_.

BLISTERED-LEAVED MOUNTAIN SORREL.