Oxyria digyna

Oxyria digyna (mountain sorrel, wood sorrel, Alpine sorrel or Alpine mountainsorrel) a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family. It is common in the tundra of Arctic. Further south, it has a circumboreal distribution, growing in high mountainous areas in the Northern Hemisphere like the Alps, Sierra Nevada, and Cascade Range. It grows in dense tufts, with stems 10-20 centimeter high. Both flowering stems and leaf stalks are somewhat reddish. Leaves are kidney-shaped, somewhat fleshy, on stalks from the basal part of the stem. Flowers are small, green and later reddish, and are grouped in an open upright cluster. The fruit is a small nut, encircled by a broad wing which finally turns red. Forming dense, red tufts, the plant is easily recognized. O. digyna grows in wet places protected by snow in winter. Oxyria (from Greek) means “sour”.