Witnessed by: TCM · Western · Unani
Common sorrel (Rumex acetosa), of the Polygonaceae family. Slender perennial herb with arrow-shaped leaves; native range: Meadows and grasslands across Europe and temperate Asia. Globally recognized as suan mo (酸模) in Chinese, hummaz (حماض) in Arabic, and garden sorrel, sour dock in English. The part used is leaf (and root). Bright arrow-headed leaves, keenly sour and cooling with the tang of oxalic acid, refreshing on the tongue.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
COMMON SORREL
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Common sorrel
- Scientific name
- Rumex acetosa L.
- Family
- Polygonaceae
Form
- Part used
- leaf (and root)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sour
- Western
- sour · astringent
- Unani
- sour
Temperature
- TCM
- cold
- Western
- cool
- Unani
- cold (cold & dry, 2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver · Large Intestine
- Western
- stomach · liver · blood · kidneys
- Unani
- stomach · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears heat and cools the blood, promotes urination, resolves toxicity
- Western
- refrigerant, diuretic, antiscorbutic, mildly laxative, cooling to the blood
- Unani
- kasir-e-safra (cuts bile), mubarrid (refrigerant), musakkin-e-atash (allays thirst), mushtahi (appetiser)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- gout, rheumatism, kidney stones and cold-weak digestion (the oxalic acid)
- Toxicity
- large quantities of the oxalate-rich leaf can irritate the kidneys and gut
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