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 principal 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.