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.

Further south, it has a circumboreal distribution, growing in high mountainous areas in the Northern Hemisphere such as the Alps, the Sierra Nevada, and the Cascade Range.

[citation needed] Mountain sorrel has also been an important plant in Saami diet.

[8] The plant is important for both insects and larger animals that feed on it in arctic and alpine regions where it occurs.