A small herbaceous plant 5-10 cm tall, with a thin horizontal rhizome, but without a stem. Leaves basal, fragile, long-petiolate, compound, trifoliate; leaflets broadly obate heart-shaped, reddish below. The flowers are borne singly on long stalks coming directly from the rhizome. Calyx and corolla are five-leaved, not fused; petals are white or pale rusty with purple veins; stamens 10, fused with filaments at the base; pistil of 5 carpels, with an upper five-celled ovary with 5 free columns. The fruit is an ovoid capsule that opens with 5 flaps. Blooms in summer.
Distributed in damp and shady coniferous and beech forests. For medicinal purposes, fresh plants with flowers or only leaves are used.
The raw material contains oxalic acid, oxalate, oxidative enzyme, etc.
Oxalis vulgaris is recommended for liver diseases, indigestion, increased acidity of the stomach, jaundice, kidney diseases, scurvy, and also against worms.
Fresh, unwilted leaves are used.
When using, care must be taken, because prolonged use can cause damage to the kidneys.
In Bulgarian folk medicine, oxalis is also used as a diuretic, for heavy menstruation and for atherosclerosis.