They are excellent in stir-fries, soups, stews, egg dishes, and even cream cheese. Dock Image Gallery Close-up-flower-of-Dock. Some wild plants are poisonous or can have serious adverse health effects. Rumex hymenosepalus has been cultivated in the Southwestern US as a source of tannin (roots contain up to 25%), for use in leather tanning, while leaves and stems are used for a mordant-free mustard-colored dye . It is 4 mm long; outer whorl of 3 green sepals and inner whorl of 3 red sepals. But, when the intent is to eradicate a patch of dock weed, control steps need to be timed right and done with care. The aerial parts are a food source and the roots have strong medicinal values. An herbaceous perennial, bloody dock grows from a tight rosette of lanceolate leaves (much longer than it is wide). It is larger and more succulent than many other docks. The condition of the ocrea may be a good indicator of how tender and tasty that dock plant is. ---Description---It is a large and spreading plant, its stout stems 2 to 3 feet high, the leaves 6 to 12 inches long, with rather slender foot-stalks, the margins waved and the end or apex of the leaf rounded.The flowers are small, green and numerous, arranged in whorled spikes at the ends of the stem. Plants are perhaps easiest to locate by the presence of the previous year’s rusty brown stalks and fruits, from the base of which emerge young, edible leaves in spring. In its native range, different parts of curly dock are used as food and/or medicine. In very small quantities they can be eaten raw; eating large quantities means that the oxalic acid can lock-up other nutrients in the food, especially calcium, thus causing mineral deficiencies. It is a highly invasive species in some zones, resulting from its abundant seed dispersal, adaptability to reproduce, aggressive roots, ability to tolerate extreme climates, and hardiness. Curly dock, a perennial broadleaf plant, usually grows in wet areas and is frequently associated with overwatering or standing water in low areas. Dock is considered an invasive weed in fifteen states, so foraging probably won't make a dent in the local population. Seeds can be eaten raw or cooked once they are brown. Seeds can be found for sale online. Rumex obtusifolius, commonly known as bitter dock, broad-leaved dock, bluntleaf dock, dock leaf or butter dock, is a perennial plant in the family Polygonaceae. Guenter Fischer/Getty Images. Prairie Dock is a neat plant in the Aster family (Asteraceae). (Taraxacum Officinale), Everything You Need to Know About Bananas. By late spring or early summer, dock produces tall flower stalks that bear copious amounts of seed, which are also edible. It's larger, more tender, and perhaps more delicious than any other dock plant. I recommend getting to know a plant for at least one year and observe its growth cycles and habitats continually. Do dock leaves help nettle stings? Plants in the garden with purple and dark foliage leaves, deeply colored leaf in purplish tones, lavender, near black foliage. (Note that burdock is a different plant entirely.) Find dock plant stock images in HD and millions of other royalty-free stock photos, illustrations and vectors in the Shutterstock collection. Dock leaves and stinging nettles side by side. Because dock has a relatively short harvest season, like so many wild greens, harvest as much as you can when it's at its peak, then blanch and freeze for later use. This is called the ocrea, and it turns brown as the plant ages. The seeds on stem are most distinctive when they are a dark brown colour in mid-late August. Red-veined dock is a taprooted perennial with a rosette of leaves distinctively marked with deep red or purple veins. Browse inspirational photos to discover the perfect floating or boat dock for easy access to your pond, lake or river. This plant has a long taproot that enables it survive long drought periods and out competes other vegetation. The most tender leaves and the best lemon flavored ones come from young docks with flower stalks that have yet to develop. From early to mid-spring, young leaves are tasty raw or cooked. Yellow dock seeds can be used as a coffee substitute. The seeds are useful and interestingly, yellow dock seeds are viable for up to 80 years. Published: April 13, 2015. What S A Dock Plant And Is It Edible. While we strive to be 100% accurate, it is solely up to the reader to ensure proper plant identification. Find out more about Rumex sanginueus by … The basal leaves have a thick sandpapery texture, particularly on the underside, and they are up to 18" long and 12" wide. Get daily tips and expert advice to help you take your cooking skills to the next level. Curly Leafed Dock Sorrel The Equinest. EdibleWildFood.com is informational in nature. Bloody dock is an attractive plant with a network of brightly colored veins on its wide, lance-shaped leaves. Ditches, roadsides, wetlands, pastures, agronomic crop fields (especially those in perennial crops like alfalfa), orchards, disturbed, unmanaged sites, and disturbed m… Docks grow as basal rosettes of foliage in early spring; they are often one of the first greens to emerge. Ellen Zachos is a foraging expert, instructor, and author of books on backyard foraging and wildcrafted cocktails. Now, for those who are generally healthy and don't eat large quantities of dock on a regular basis, it should be fine. Like so many greens, docks reduce in volume when cooked, by about 20 to 25 percent of their original volume. Health Benefits of Dock. Fortunately, there is a European weed called curly dock, or dock plant, that is as pervasive as it is persistent. Consider chopping the petioles into small pieces, and cooking them as a substitute for rhubarb or Japanese knotweed. Yellow dock is an ingredient in some herbal toothpastes. They may not even have fully unfurled, and they will be very mucilaginous. Please click here for more information. Photos and information about Minnesota flora - Mexican Dock: branching clusters, numerous whorls of 10 to 25, 1/8-inch green 3-sided flowers, triangular, 3 grains equal in size I have found two primary ways to distinguish between these species. Boil or saute dock greens to make the most of their flavor. Since ancient times Dock is known as a medicinal plant and used in traditional medicines. For those who are nervous about this, err on the side of caution. Both curly and broad-leaved dock are edible at several stages. Patience dock may be found as a feral plant. Curly dock may also be called yellow dock, sour dock, or narrowleaf dock, depending on where they are purchased. The seed, however, can be labor-intensive to process and reports on its palatability are highly varied. Stock images including perennial plants, annuals, shrubs, bulbs, trees, etc. Curly dock inhabits agricultural land and other disturbed areas. Seeds can be found for sale online. Dock Of Maryland Extension. The same compound is found in spinach. If eating spinach is against physician's orders or for those who are prone to kidney stones, don't eat dock. Dock Sorrel About Photos Mtgimage. It is native to Europe, but is found on all temperate continents. Identifying and Collecting Curly Dock Roots: You can dig curly dock roots in the spring and fall, identified only by their basal rosette which can be tricky to the beginner. These often remain standing over winter and new growth will emerge from the base of the stalk. What Weeds … The interesting thing about this particular plant is that not only can it be eaten like a lettuce or sauteed like a spinach, but it also has the healing properties of an herb. Yellow dock has been used as a multi-purpose plant for centuries. Everything You Have Always Wanted to Know About Dock. Yellow dock is an ingredient in some herbal toothpastes. Other common name of the plants are curly dock, curled dock, narrow dock, sour dock, rumex, yellow dock, Chin-ch’iao-mai, garden patience, parell and patience. If left to seed, the plant grows tall and leggy with 2- to 3-foot stems of smaller leaves and tiny flowers, which eventually spread their seeds everywhere (some people even consider bloody dock to be a … If you have any medical conditions, consult a health professional before you eat the leaves. Since Rumex pollinates in a similar time frame to grass, some allergy sufferers may confuse their allergy to Rumex with allergy to grass. nutrition, recipes, history, uses & more! Broad-leaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius) used to be called butter dock because its large leaves were used to wrap and conserve butter. Dock leaves are a wild green that can be used in any recipe where you'd traditionally use spinach or … Bloody dock plant is native to Europe and Asia but has naturalized in some areas of the United States and Canada. It is up to the reader to verify nutritional information and health benefits with qualified professionals for all edible plants listed in this web site. The plant reaches as much as 4 feet tall at maturity. Stems can be consumed raw or cooked but they are best peeled and the inner portion consumed. We are not health professionals, medical doctors, nor are we nutritionists. One of the best identification features for docks is the thin sheath that covers the nodes where leaves emerge. Nevertheless, many find that the dock leaf remedy … Yellow dock loves roadsides, pastures, fields, and other disturbed areas. Other edible docks include R. occidentalis (western dock), R. longifolius (yard dock), and R. stenphyllus (field dock). Try vacuum sealing and freezing a bag of dock for winter months when the promise of spring greens seems like a cruel culinary tease. The seed stalks start out green but quickly turn to maroon and then a rusty brown. Identification, health,
To support our efforts please browse our store (books with medicinal info, etc.). Dock weed, a broadleaf perennial plant, is a member of the buckwheat family and a common weed in poorly maintained turf and grassland pastures. Quarter Dock Crackers, Yellow Dock Crackers. It has been a traditional food and dye source for several Native American tribes. Curly dock (Rumex crispus) is a perennial native to Europe, Asia and parts of Africa. It is a member of the Polygonaceae (buckwheat or dock) family. The midribs of large dock leaves can be tough and fibrous, while the leaf blade remains tender. Look for the tall, dark brown, branched flower stalks that produced the prior year's seed crop. The root contains the most medicinal properties; it can be boiled to make a bitter tea that detoxifies, helps the liver or skin ailments, and is used as a laxative. Docks were popular wild edibles during the Great Depression due to their tart, lemony flavor, their widespread abundance, and the fact that they were free for the taking. The leaves, stalk, and seed-heads are all attractive. Red veined Sorrel Bloody Dock (Rumex sanguineus) is also known as Red-Veined Sorrel or Bloodwort.This striking plant has vibrant green leaves with brilliant veins of burgundy-purple. in height and is just as wide. Leaves can be added to salads, cooked as a potherb or added to soups and stews. Click. The docks and sorrels, genus Rumex L., are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs R. hymenosepalus (wild rhubarb) is common in the desert in the American Southwest. The pollen travels well in the wind, and has caused many positive skin tests in allergy patients. Wild food can help treat various medical conditions. All information, photographs and web content contained in this website is Copyright © EdibleWildFood.com 2020. Bloody dock plant, aka red veined sorrel (Rumex sanguineus), is a rosette forming perennial from the buckwheat family. This plant is also known as curled dock, narrow dock and curly leaf dock.Caution: The leaves usually contain high levels of oxalic acid. What Can Weeds Tell Me About My Garden Soil Unh Extension. Dock is a great potential cause of seasonal allergies. The laxative, castor oil, is derived from castor bean plants, but so is the deadly toxin, ricin. Leaves-of-Dock. The oxalic acid content will be greatly reduced if the plant is cooked. Long, narrow, lance-shaped leaves are curled and have wavy margins. This tall-stalked flowering perennial is characterized by the narrow leaves that curl along the edges. Yellow dock’s leaves can be cooked at any time so long as they are green. Docks are in the rumex family, and are related to rhubarb and sorrel and oxalis. It is often claimed that crushed dock leaves relieve the pain because their alkaline sap neutralises the nettle’s formic acid, but dock leaf sap is acidic too, so this cannot be true. This unusual flower is located on a long slender, branching cluster at the top of a stem; flowers turn brown when they mature. The name “Silphium” refers to an ancient Greek plant that produces resin.Resin was once highly sought after for a variety of uses, including as an incense for use in religious ceremonies. Patience dock may be found as a feral plant. Curly Dock Control. These are followed by dark brown fruit. Dock plants are perennials, which means they re-sprout from the same spot year after year. Yellow dock has been used as a multi-purpose plant for centuries. The attribute ‘crispus’ means curled, which refers to the curly and wavy leaves of this species, as does the common name ‘curled dock’. Ohio Weed. The aerial parts are a food source and the roots have strong medicinal values. In the very late winter and early spring, the new dock plants will sprout and begin to form leaves right under last year’s seed stalks. They are about 15 - 30 cm long and decrease in size the higher up on the stem they grow. Sheep Sorrel. Patience dock (R. patientia) was once cultivated as a vegetable in both the USA and Europe and is still grown as such by a small number of gardeners. But it is easy to tell the two apart: True to its name, the broadleaf type has bottom, or "basal" leaves that are very wide (4 inches across, versus 1 inch across for yellow dock plants). This rosette-forming plant is easily grown as an annual or perennial in sun to partial shade and can even be used in a water garden. The sour flavor of dock comes from oxalic acid, which, when consumed in large quantities, may cause kidney stones. One of the best identification features for docks is the thin sheath that covers the nodes where leaves emerge. Docks are perennial plants growing from taproots, and they are most often found in neglected, disturbed ground like open fields and along roadsides. A second excellent identification feature is the mucilaginous quality of the stems. The foliage of mature dock plants may be from one to three feet tall, depending on growing conditions, but in early spring, when it's at its most delicious, the smaller plants may be hard to spot. In-depth wild edible PDFs. A related weed can also grow to be as much as 4 feet tall: bitter, or "broadleaf" dock (Rumex obtusifolius). This is called the ocrea, and it turns brown as the plant … It is found throughout California up to an elevation of 8200 feet (2500 m). As soon as you catch a whiff of spring, you’ll start to see dock. In the following paragraphs and images, I’ll look at several species of Rumex — both in terms of weeding it out of your garden and in terms of … There's something about the texture and flavor of the cooked dock that works wonderfully with dairy. If a plant with tasty foliage but tough midribs is found, remove the midrib from the leaf before cooking. Whether you want inspiration for planning a dock renovation or are building a designer dock from scratch, Houzz has 1,180 images from the best designers, decorators, and architects in the country, including Scott W Bartholomew Architecture and Connect Homes. ROUND-LEAVED DOCK Botanical: Rumex obtusifolius---Synonyms---Common Wayside Dock.Butter Dock. Today, most people have forgotten about this common and tasty edible weed. Common names are tricky for that very reason; they change from place to place. While docks may be happiest and tastiest when they grow with plenty of moisture, the taproot indicates they are drought-tolerant plants. Flavors vary among species, with several authors reporting a preference for curly dock. Bitter dock — also called broad-leaved dock — has leaves which are fairly “flat” across the surface. It's larger, more tender, and perhaps more delicious than any other dock plant. Prairie Dock Silphium terebinthinaceum Aster family (Asteraceae) Description: This plant has a vase-like rosette of large basal leaves that are spade-shaped (cordate). Leaves in very small quantities can be eaten raw until the flower spikes appear. The first is the look of the plant’s lower leaves. Thousands of new, high-quality pictures added every day. The leaves of most dock plants are long and narrow, and the plants are most easily identified by their distinctive seed stalks. This ugly weed is curly dock, and when the plant is in its mature reddish-brown phase, it isn’t dead; in fact, curly dock can seem nearly impossible to kill. Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum)By Christopher David Benda. What Are Dandelions? north-east United States (zones 4-7), but do grow elsewhere. The flower has no petals. The seeds are useful and interestingly, yellow dock seeds are viable for up to 80 years. It is grown mostly as a foliage plant or ornamental vegetable, but it also produces erect stems of tiny, star-shaped green flowers that turn reddish brown. It generally grows in a clumping mound that reaches around 18 inches (46 cm.) Plant-of-Dock. Yellow dock flowers are green and sometimes a touch of red. Curly dock (Rumex crispus), also known as sour dock, yellow dock, narrowleaf dock, or curled dock, is a perennial weed native to Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa.Curly dock was introduced into the U.S., possibly arriving as a seed contaminant in the early 1600’s when the British brought crops and cattle to New England 1. Additionally, larger petioles may be tough but pleasantly sour. If using raw leaves, avoid excessive mucilage by removing the leaf stem (petiole) and using only the actual leaves in salads. As that new green growth begins, last years seeds are often still clinging to the stalk. Pick two to six youngest of the leaves at the center of each clump. Know that only young dock leaves are covered with mucilage. Click, All listed plants are found in central-east Canada and
For those who need to know precisely and with absolute certainty which plant they're dealing with, use the botanical Latin name. Castor bean is a tropical plant widely grown as an annual in northern climates, often as a potted plant for patios, decks, or porches. There are many edible docks, but curly dock and broad-leaved dock are the most common in the USA and Europe. Bitter dock is a perennial herbaceous plant that is found in many countries. Plants may be poisonous to livestock when ingested in quantity.