''Rumex crispus'', the curly dock, curled dock or yellow dock, is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is based on the genus '' Polygonum'', and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1 ...

, native to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and

Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

Description

The plant produces an inflorescence or flower stalk that grows to high. It has smooth leaves shooting off from a large

basal rosette In botany, a rosette is a circular arrangement of leaves or of structures resembling leaves. In flowering plants, rosettes usually sit near the soil. Their structure is an example of a modified stem in which the internode gaps between the lea ...

, with distinctive waved or curled edges; these can grow to . On the stalk, flowers and seeds are produced in clusters on branched stems, with the largest cluster being found at the apex. The seeds are shiny, brown and encased in the calyx of the flower that produced them. This casing enables the seeds to float on water and get caught in wool and animal fur, and this helps the seeds spread to new locations. The root structure is a large, yellow, forking

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

. ''Rumex crispus'' has a number of subspecies with distinctive habitat preferences. ''R. crispus'' ssp. ''crispus'' occurs on waste and cultivated ground. ''R. crispus'' ssp. ''littoreus'' has a coastal distribution, and ''R. crispus'' ssp. ''uliginosus'' occurs on tidal estuarine mud. The species hybridizes readily with other ''Rumex'' species including ''

Rumex obtusifolius ''Rumex obtusifolius'', commonly known as bitter dock, broad-leaved dock, bluntleaf dock, dock leaf, dockens or butter dock, is a perennial plant in the family Polygonaceae. It is native to Europe, but is found on all temperate continents. It i ...

'', '' Rumex obovatus'', ''

Rumex palustris ''Rumex palustris'', or marsh dock, is a plant species of the genus '' Rumex'', found in Europe. The species is a dicot belonging to the family Polygonaceae. The species epithet ''palustris'' is Latin for "of the marsh" which indicates its comm ...

'' and '' Rumex maritimus''.

Distribution

Common in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and southern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Ecology

Curly dock grows in a wide variety of habitats, including disturbed soil, waste areas, roadsides, fields/meadows, shorelines, and forest edges. It is widely

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

throughout the temperate world and has become a serious invasive species in many areas, including throughout North America, southern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and parts of Australia. It spreads through the seeds contaminating crop seeds, and sticking to clothing. It is classified as an "injurious weed" under the UK Weeds Act 1959. In the United States, it is classified as a noxious weed in the states of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

and

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. It is often seen in disturbed soils at the edges of roadsides, railway beds, and car parks.

Host plant

The curled dock is an optimal host plant for certain Lepidoptera species including, ''

Agrotis ipsilon ''Agrotis ipsilon'', the dark sword-grass, black cutworm, greasy cutworm, floodplain cutworm or ipsilon dart, is a small noctuid moth found worldwide. The moth gets its scientific name from black markings on its forewings shaped like the letter ...

'' (black cutworm). Adult moths

oviposit The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...

on these dense, low-lying leaves during the spring/summer season.

Uses and toxicity

It can be used as a wild leaf vegetable; the young leaves should be boiled in several changes of water to remove as much of the oxalic acid in the leaves as possible or can be added directly to salads in moderate amounts. Once the plant matures it becomes too bitter to consume. Dock leaves are an excellent source of both

vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and an essential nutrient for humans. It is a group of organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal (also known as retinaldehyde), retinoic acid, and several provitamin A carotenoids (most notably ...

and

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) ...

, as well as a source of

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

and

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosph ...

. Curly Dock leaves are somewhat tart due to the presence of high levels of oxalic acid, and although quite palatable, this plant should only be consumed in moderation as it can irritate the urinary tract and increase the risk of developing

kidney stone Kidney stone disease, also known as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, is a crystallopathy where a solid piece of material (kidney stone) develops in the urinary tract. Kidney stones typically form in the kidney and leave the body in the urine s ...

s. It should be used with care during lactation, as it may cause a laxative effect in the infant. The seeds of the yellow dock, once dried thoroughly, are edible as well. The dark-brown to black seed pods remain on the stalk until the spring when leaves start growing again. While many wild foraged grains must be

winnowed Winnowing is a process by which chaff is separated from grain. It can also be used to remove pests from stored grain. Winnowing usually follows threshing in grain preparation. In its simplest form, it involves throwing the mixture into th ...

, the pods of ''Rumex crispus'' are small enough that it is more efficient to grind them with the grain. The resulting flour is much like buckwheat in flavor, and while some may find it too bitter, many prefer the seeds over the tartness of the leaves. In Western herbalism, the root is often used for treating anemia, due to its high level of iron. It can be powdered and given in capsules, often in combination with stinging nettle (''

Urtica dioica ''Urtica dioica'', often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. Ori ...

''). This is a classic combination with the plant. Both the leaves and root may be laxative in some individuals, though not in all, and generally it is mild. This is due to the presence of anthroquinone glycosides, and is not an action that should be relied upon, but seen as a possible effect of the plant when taken. The plant may also cause intestinal discomfort to some people. The plant will help with skin conditions if taken internally or applied externally to things like itching, scrofula, and sores. Some studies show that certain anthroquinones can help stop or slow cancer growth, but this may or may not apply to the ones in yellow dock. Yellow dock is part of the homeopathic pharmacopoeia. It is used mainly for respiratory conditions, specifically those with a tickling cough that is worse when exposed to cold air. It mentions also passing pains, excessive itching, and that it helps enlarged lymphs. The Zuni people apply a

poultice A poultice, also called a cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth and placed over the skin to treat an aching, inflamed, or painful part of the body. It can be used on wounds, such as cuts. 'Poultice ...

of the powdered root to sores, rashes and skin infections, and use

infusion Infusion is the process of extracting chemical compounds or flavors from plant material in a solvent such as water, oil or alcohol, by allowing the material to remain suspended in the solvent over time (a process often called steeping). An in ...

of the root for

athlete's foot Athlete's foot, known medically as ''tinea pedis'', is a common skin infection of the feet caused by a fungus. Signs and symptoms often include itching, scaling, cracking and redness. In rare cases the skin may blister. Athlete's foot fungus ...

.Camazine, Scott and Robert A. Bye 1980 A Study Of The Medical Ethnobotany Of The Zuni Indians of New Mexico. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2:365-388 (p. 378)

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control

crispus Flavius Julius Crispus (; 300 – 326) was the eldest son of the Roman emperor Constantine I, as well as his junior colleague ( ''caesar'') from March 317 until his execution by his father in 326. The grandson of the ''augustus'' Constantius I ...

Edible plants Flora of Europe Flora of temperate Asia Flora of Western Asia Medicinal plants of Asia Medicinal plants of Europe Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus