Oxalis stricta ☘️
(Disclaimer: I am neither a medical professional, nor a certified botanist. I am simply an amateur self-taught botanist sharing my own experiences. I do not encourage anyone to ingest or touch plants)
I've been considering making posts discussing individual plants and how I've used them. I figured, since I've already missed so many opportunities to take photos and discuss my own personal experience with plants I might as well not bother starting now.
However, I'm housed up and have the spare time to actually think to take photos and record what I've recently done so, fuck it.
...
Oxalis stricta, more commonly known as yellow woodsorrel or lemon clover, is probably one of the more recognizable "weeds", at least in North America where it is native.
The plant consists of small five-petaled yellow flowers, and leaves comprised of three heart shaped leaflets creating the classic shamrock shape.
Oxalis stricta can often be found growing in disturbed areas with nutrient poor soils such as roadsides, and unkempt yards/fields.
In states that actually have four seasons, their flowers are only really blooming during mid-summer and autumn. In Florida, however, their flowers are a year round affair.
I've been in central Florida (Seminole, Miccosukee, Calusa and Mascogo) a bit longer than anticipated due to rain. Fortunately, I have a house up to keep dry, at least until Friday when there should be little to no rain for the following week, then I gotta vamoose.
On top of that, their yard has been growing out, offering Brown Butter and myself patches of "weeds" to lay about in and string together into flower crowns.
Quite a few of these patches of "weeds" scattered about the turf grass are yellow woodsorrel.
Aside from taking a moment to scan the leaves for the elusive four-leaf clover, I typically don't pay the plant much mind. However, I've been dealing with a sudden soreness, itchiness and swelling of my lower left eyelid since the day before.
Medicinal:
Yesterday, I'd been browsing local flora on the internet and read on the Native American Ethnobotany Database that, apparently, the Omaha tribe would use a poultice of the plant for swellings.
That seemed like perfect timing. So, I figured I'd give it a shot, especially since it's considered edible (note that every part of Oxalis stricta is edible but only in small amounts as the leaves contain oxalic acid which can potentially harm the kidneys due to the acid's ability to bind calcium).
(I apologize for how vaguely I present my process and results, I don't claim to be a professional, I am merely a person sharing my experiences)
I made the poultice by chewing up a few sprigs of leaves (rinsed my mouth out with water beforehand), applying the wad onto the swollen area, and then lightly pressing it against the skin with a paper towel (one reason being to help the plant's juices soak into the skin, the other reason being to help the poultice stick to my face as I was seated upright). I repeated this process three times throughout the day, keeping the poultice on for no more than an hour and reapplying several hours later.
It did seem to work in alleviating the soreness and itching sensation while the poultice was applied, but the sensations returned not long after removing the poultice. Maybe it was the plant, maybe it was the pressure, or maybe it was the fact that my mind was more focused on a foreign object being stuck to my face.
That aside, I did notice visibly reduced redness and swelling after each application. Again, could've just been placebo.
Before bed, I finally remembered that I have a tube of 1% hydrocortisone lotion and applied that to the entirety of both my eyelids and had to restrain myself from slathering it on the eyeball itself because, fuck, it was itchy. The following day, I applied the hydrocortisone maybe two more times.
That possibly may have been what helped. Because sometime in the afternoon today, while I was engrossed in a surprisingly excellent recently released horror film, I'd noticed that the soreness and swelling were altogether gone.
Could it have been another eczema flair up? I'm not certain, there wasn't a visible rash, but who knows. I certainly can't afford to have a doctor tell me that they refuse to prescribe me painkillers and then kick me out before I can even ask how they're doing.
There is one thing I can confirm, however, it does have a pleasant tangy flavor. I'd like to someday try it in a salad or a tomato gravy. Thus far, I have cooked a bit of it into pastina.
Cooking:
Pastina, apparently, is a classic that many Italian-Americans grew up with. It's typically made with water and/or milk and butter, which I had not learned until doing a little background research for this specific post.
I'm from an Italian-American family from Philly and grew up with the classics such as aioli and fried smelts on Christmas, gnocchi, and clams and spaghetti every time I would go to my grandmother's. But I've never had pastina until I came to my in-laws (of whom have no known Italian heritage, excepting a distant aunt-in-law). I vaguely recall my mother possibly telling me that my Great Nonni used to make pastina for her as a child, but I digress.
The few times I've tried my MIL's pastina, she cooked it up into a thick consistency in either tomato gravy or water. It reminded me of porridge.
So, when I tried cooking some pastina myself, I cooked it in a combination of water and milk with some butter, salt, pepper, and a small fistful of Oxalis stricta leaves.
I quite liked how it turned out. The Oxalis stricta gave it an- I want to avoid using the term "earthy", as I feel it translates into "dirt". Maybe "floral" would be a better term? Whatever it was, I wouldn't personally describe the taste as citrus-y.
The tang which I had tasted while chewing up the leaves for the poultice was no longer present in its cooked state (probably because the tang is a result of the oxalic acid which can be reduced through cooking).
Overall, I very much enjoyed the light yet distinct flavour it added to the pastina.
Witchcraft:
Now, this is something I have yet to work with in a witchy context. However, according to the plant's entry in the NAE Database, the Iroquois or Haudenosaunee
(which is a confederacy of multiple nations formed during the 17th century. The nations under the Haudenosaunee Confederacy [according to their official website] are the Kanien’kehake, Onondowahgah, Onyota’ake, Guyohkohnyoh, Onöñda’gega’, Tuscarora, Wyendot, Delaware and Tutela)
would create a compound using Oxalis stricta as an "anti-witch medicine".
I am not a part of the Haudenosaunee, nor do I know anyone who is a part of the Haudenosaunee- and now that I think about it, it might be interesting, and even useful, to reach out to the nations themselves and ask about this piece of information (I'm already working on so many other projects, but shit, I think I would be interested in pursuing that sort of project)- however, considering that "witchcraft" in a folk medicine or traditional context tends to refer to baneful spiritual/mystical workings. Therefore, one could surmise that Oxalis stricta would possibly be useful in protection against baneful magic/entities.
Which I think is doubly interesting, considering the four leaf clover is often considered a symbol of good luck.
These are the two websites I used for botanical research:
• Native American Ethnobotany Database
I highly recommend checking out the Native American Ethnobotany Database. There were twenty uses documented for Oxalis stricta alone from various Turtle Island tribes. It's a resource that I myself am very excited to have recently stumbled across.
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