CURLY DOCK Rumex crispus

Curly-leaved dock, Yellow dock, Sour dock, Indian tobacco POLYGONACEAE

Buckwheat Family

SIZE = Plant: 2–4 feet, basal rosette is winter-hardy.

Flower: = 1/6 inch, in slender spikes. With 6 sepals, no petals.

LEAVES = 6–12 inches; with wavy, curled margins.

BLOOMS = March-May

At least fifteen Rumex species inhabit Texas and several ranges into the Houston area. While none has showy flowers, the docks are nevertheless conspicuous plants with interesting features. Curly dock, R. crispus, is the largest and most common of the local species. A native of Europe, this alien has become established in fields and disturbed ground throughout the United States. A stout perennial from a heavy taproot, it has a hardy rosette of leaves that remains green all winter, lining Houston roadsides even when other vegetation is withered and brown.

Curly dock is easily recognized by its long, slender leaves with crisped and wavy margins. The flowering stem reaches four feet, with tiny green flowers arranged on slender, branching spikes. There are six sepals in two ranks, but the flowers have no petals. Brown, heart-shaped, three-winged fruits fill the terminal spikes in late summer and fall.

While some authors regard curly dock as a “noxious weed,” natural-foods enthusiasts praise it as a rich source of vitamins A and C. Tull suggests using the young leaves as a substitute for spinach in salads or as cooked greens. Large doses, however, may cause gastric distress. Native Americans ground dock seeds and used the meal in bread, but Tull points out that removing the papery husks entails a great deal of work for a small amount of flour. Dormon also notes that the Chitimacha Indians of southern Louisiana used curly dock, which they called “deer’s-ears,” for dyeing their cane baskets.

Herbalists consider tea from the dried roots of the dock to be an excellent “blood purifier” and use it for a variety of skin diseases, rheumatism, liver ailments, and sore throats. It may either cause or relieve diarrhea, depending on the dosage, the season of the year, and the concentration of tannins and other chemicals in the plants.