Home / Plants / Grow / Sheep sorrel

Sheep sorrel

Rumex acetosella · Polygonaceae · all Rumex records

Your local evidence lens

Separate evidence questions, never one approval badge

Set a ZIP to compare this record with state distribution, native range, USDA hardiness, and invasive records.

A genus split is not a placement verdict. Set a ZIP to read the local documented split.

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence: Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions: 1 condition stated in cited fire-evidence rows.
Fire ecology context: No section-reviewed fire-ecology context is normalized.
Placement evidence: 0 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions: Global; New Zealand; north-eastern and mid-Atlantic United States
Maintenance: No sourced horticultural maintenance assertion is normalized; fire-test conditions do not supply maintenance advice.

Typed publication scope: 1 scope across 1 cited fire source

Combustion characteristics of north-eastern USA vegetation tested in the cone calorimeter · Official scoped edition
- Northeastern and mid-Atlantic study sites (ME, MD, MA, NY, VA footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2007-08-20
  The authors collected foliage and twigs across study sites in Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia, then conditioned and tested the samples in a cone calorimeter. FireApproved publishes 37 exact source owners only as multi-state laboratory context. The source does not establish that every taxon was sampled in every named state, whole-plant behavior, landscape suitability, or state planting guidance.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution: Documented in AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY.
Native range: No current cited or legacy state native range is normalized.
Introduced / established: 52 sourced range or established records; set a location to match them. This is not an invasive warning.
USDA hardiness: No hardiness value is normalized.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

Legal-list status: Set a location for an exact legal-list result; source silence is not clearance.
Seed-list status: 10 state noxious-weed seed records; set a location to match exact scope.
Reported invasive here: 3 ecological invasive reports; set a location to distinguish exact from regional context.
Broader regional context: Aggregate AK, HI, and L48 evidence is shown only as regional context, never as an exact-state finding.
Federal context: Federal designations remain separate from state legal-list results.

How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella) — Photo: (c) Kieran Hanrahan, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

Form: perennial
Grows in: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC +43
Rated in: Global; New Zealand; north-eastern and mid-Atlantic United States
Uses: pasture
Family: Polygonaceae
Evidence: 11 cited sources

Native and introduced range evidence

These are exact U.S. botanical-area records from the cited range source. Native and introduced describe biogeographic relationship, not fire performance or planting approval. Doubtful and extinct rows stay visible but do not count as current presence.

Current native

0

exact source areas

Current introduced

52

exact source areas

Qualified

0

doubtful or extinct source rows

52 introduced source areas · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04

Aleutian Is. (AK)
Alaska (AK)
Alabama (AL)
Arkansas (AR)
Arizona (AZ)
California (CA)
Colorado (CO)
Connecticut (CT)
District of Columbia (DC)
Delaware (DE)
Florida (FL)
Georgia (GA)
Hawaii (HI)
Iowa (IA)
Idaho (ID)
Illinois (IL)
Indiana (IN)
Kansas (KS)
Kentucky (KY)
Louisiana (LA)
Massachusetts (MA)
Maryland (MD)
Maine (ME)
Michigan (MI)
Minnesota (MN)
Missouri (MO)
Mississippi (MS)
Montana (MT)
North Carolina (NC)
North Dakota (ND)
Nebraska (NE)
New Hampshire (NH)
New Jersey (NJ)
New Mexico (NM)
Nevada (NV)
New York (NY)
Ohio (OH)
Oklahoma (OK)
Oregon (OR)
Pennsylvania (PA)
Rhode I. (RI)
South Carolina (SC)
South Dakota (SD)
Tennessee (TN)
Texas (TX)
Utah (UT)
Virginia (VA)
Vermont (VT)
Washington (WA)
Wisconsin (WI)
West Virginia (WV)
Wyoming (WY)

The lossless worldwide derivative is retained once in the research corpus; object pages repeat only exact U.S. areas needed by the local lens. The JSON twin carries the same page assertions.

State noxious-weed seed records. Restricted noxious-weed seed · AL (USDA source, usda-ams-state-noxious-weed-seed-2026:AL:036, section “Restricted”, row limitation 200 per pound) · Restricted noxious-weed seed · FL (USDA source, usda-ams-state-noxious-weed-seed-2026:FL:036, section “Restricted”, row limitation 200 per pound) · Restricted noxious-weed seed · GA (USDA source, usda-ams-state-noxious-weed-seed-2026:GA:047, section “Restricted”, row limitation 200 per pound) · Restricted noxious-weed seed · IA (USDA source, usda-ams-state-noxious-weed-seed-2026:IA:029, section “Restricted”) · Restricted noxious-weed seed · KY (USDA source, usda-ams-state-noxious-weed-seed-2026:KY:019, section “Restricted”, row limitation 256 per pound) · Restricted noxious-weed seed · LA (USDA source, usda-ams-state-noxious-weed-seed-2026:LA:039, section “Restricted”, row limitation 100 per pound) · Restricted noxious-weed seed · MO (USDA source, usda-ams-state-noxious-weed-seed-2026:MO:028, section “Restricted”) · Restricted noxious-weed seed · NE (USDA source, usda-ams-state-noxious-weed-seed-2026:NE:053, section “Restricted”) · Restricted noxious-weed seed · OK (USDA source, usda-ams-state-noxious-weed-seed-2026:OK:044, section “Restricted”, row limitation 90 per pound) · Restricted noxious-weed seed · SC (USDA source, usda-ams-state-noxious-weed-seed-2026:SC:040, section “Restricted”, row limitation 100 per pound)

These are state seed-sheet listings in the Federal Seed Act agricultural-and-vegetable-seed context. Each row keeps its printed category, governing seed section, row limitations, and proven note references; consult the official source for complete conditions. It never becomes a non-seed plant restriction, ecological-invasive warning, nursery restriction, alternative-ranking signal, product result, or fire-evidence vote.

Conditions in the fire evidence

These describe tested or rated plant material. They are not horticultural maintenance instructions.

cured: Combustion characteristics of north-eastern USA vegetation tested in the cone calorimeter evidence row

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Listed without a rating (9)

FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database — Dryad / Global Ecology and Biogeography · Dryad version 9 · original source Corroboration Trait database lineage: meta-aggregator

9 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.
- “ignition frequency (%): 20” · score 20 (FLAMITS — ignition frequency (%))
  
  FLAMITS record 1499; Ignitability measurement; plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND. Primary study Cui2020a: Cui, X., Paterson, A. M., Wyse, S. V., Alam, M. A., Maurin, K. J. L., Pieper, R., ... Curran, T. J. (2020a). Shoot flammability of vascular plants is phylogenetically conserved and related to habitat fire-proneness and growth form. Nature Plants, 6, 355-359.
- “maximum sample temperature (°C): 180.5” · score 180.5 (FLAMITS — maximum sample temperature (°C))
  
  FLAMITS record 1693; Combustibility measurement; plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND. Primary study Cui2020a: Cui, X., Paterson, A. M., Wyse, S. V., Alam, M. A., Maurin, K. J. L., Pieper, R., ... Curran, T. J. (2020a). Shoot flammability of vascular plants is phylogenetically conserved and related to habitat fire-proneness and growth form. Nature Plants, 6, 355-359.
- “burning duration (s): 0.4” · score 0.4 (FLAMITS — burning duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 1887; Sustainability measurement; plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND. Primary study Cui2020a: Cui, X., Paterson, A. M., Wyse, S. V., Alam, M. A., Maurin, K. J. L., Pieper, R., ... Curran, T. J. (2020a). Shoot flammability of vascular plants is phylogenetically conserved and related to habitat fire-proneness and growth form. Nature Plants, 6, 355-359.
- “estimated burnt biomass (%): 20” · score 20 (FLAMITS — estimated burnt biomass (%))
  
  FLAMITS record 2081; Consumability measurement; plant part branches; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Cui2020a-1; sampling ND. Primary study Cui2020a: Cui, X., Paterson, A. M., Wyse, S. V., Alam, M. A., Maurin, K. J. L., Pieper, R., ... Curran, T. J. (2020a). Shoot flammability of vascular plants is phylogenetically conserved and related to habitat fire-proneness and growth form. Nature Plants, 6, 355-359.
- “calorific value (kcal/kg): 2101.84” · score 2101.84 (FLAMITS — calorific value (kcal/kg))
  
  FLAMITS record 2889; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Dibble2007-1; sampling ND. Primary study Dibble2007: Dibble, A. C., White, R. H., & Lebow, P. K. (2007). Combustion characteristics of north-eastern USA vegetation tested in the cone calorimeter: invasive versus non-invasive plants. International journal of wildland fire, 16, 426-443.
- “time to flaming (s): 8.1” · score 8.1 (FLAMITS — time to flaming (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 10007; Ignitability measurement; plant part whole plant; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Padulles2018-1; sampling 1982 to 2007. Primary study Padulles2018: Padullés-Cubino, J., Buckley, H. L., Day, N. J., Pieper, R., & Curran, T. J. (2018). Community-level flammability declines over 25 years of plant invasion in grasslands. Journal of Ecology, 106, 1582-1594.
- “maximum sample temperature (°C): 180.5” · score 180.5 (FLAMITS — maximum sample temperature (°C))
  
  FLAMITS record 10058; Combustibility measurement; plant part whole plant; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Padulles2018-1; sampling 1982 to 2007. Primary study Padulles2018: Padullés-Cubino, J., Buckley, H. L., Day, N. J., Pieper, R., & Curran, T. J. (2018). Community-level flammability declines over 25 years of plant invasion in grasslands. Journal of Ecology, 106, 1582-1594.
- “burning duration (s): 0.4” · score 0.4 (FLAMITS — burning duration (s))
  
  FLAMITS record 10109; Sustainability measurement; plant part whole plant; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Padulles2018-1; sampling 1982 to 2007. Primary study Padulles2018: Padullés-Cubino, J., Buckley, H. L., Day, N. J., Pieper, R., & Curran, T. J. (2018). Community-level flammability declines over 25 years of plant invasion in grasslands. Journal of Ecology, 106, 1582-1594.
- “estimated burnt biomass (%): 20” · score 20 (FLAMITS — estimated burnt biomass (%))
  
  FLAMITS record 10160; Consumability measurement; plant part whole plant; fuel all; predrying yes; device grill; site Padulles2018-1; sampling 1982 to 2007. Primary study Padulles2018: Padullés-Cubino, J., Buckley, H. L., Day, N. J., Pieper, R., & Curran, T. J. (2018). Community-level flammability declines over 25 years of plant invasion in grasslands. Journal of Ecology, 106, 1582-1594.

Last verified 2026-08-23. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

Profiles: USDA PLANTS · GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · ITIS

Rumex acetosella (Sheep sorrel). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/rumex-acetosella/. Last verified 2026-08-23.