In the wild, Oxalis oregana, redwood sorrel, is found in moist Douglas fir and Coastal redwood forests in the Cascade, Olympic and Coast Mountains, from Southern British Columbia to Northern California. It makes a great groundcover in cultivated shade gardens, spreading by rhizomes to form tidy mats. Preferring shade, even deep shade, its leaves are designed to photosynthesize at low light levels. In fact, if you see the leaves of oxalis folded downward, it is a sign the plant is protecting itself from too much sun.

Oxalis leaves are clover-like, green on the top and and purplish on the underside. In spring to fall the plant produces delicate light pink or white blooms. Oxalis doesn't have to be cut back in the fall, but will look tidier if it is.

Native Americans were know to eat redwood sorrel in
small quantities and to make decoctions from the
entire plant to rub on the body to treat rheumatism.

We have planted oxalis in several places in the shaded
area in the southern portion of the Buck Lake Native
Plant Garden.