Rumex obtusifolius

Last updated

Broad-leaved dock
Rumex-obtusifolius-foliage.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Rumex
Species:
R. obtusifolius
Binomial name
Rumex obtusifolius
L.
Synonyms

Rumex sylvestris (Lam.) Campd. [1]

Rumex obtusifolius, commonly known as bitter dock, [2] [3] 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. [2] [4] [5] 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. [2]

Contents

Etymology

The name, Rumex obtusifolius, was assigned by Carl Linnaeus in the 18th century, and has remained unchanged, although there are numerous subspecies. [2] Rumex was Pliny's name for sorrel, [6] while obtusifolius means 'obtuse-leaved' (obtuse + foliage). [2] [6]

Botanical illustration of Rumex obtusifolius Rumex obtusifolius Sturm48.jpg
Botanical illustration of Rumex obtusifolius

Description

Rumex obtusifolius is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant that grows to a height of 40 to 150 cm (16 to 59 in). [2] It is easily recognizable by its very large oval leaves with cordate bases and rounded tips, some of the lower leaves having red stems. [2] The edges of the leaves are slightly "crisped" or wavy, the upper surface is hairless and the under surface may be papillose. [2] The leaves of this plant can grow to about 30 cm (12 in) in length and 15 centimetres (5.9 in) wide. [2] The taproot is large, with numerous branches extending to a depth of 150 centimetres (59 in), with tough stems, often reddish, and unbranched until just below the inflorescence. [2]

The junctions of the petioles with the stems are covered by a sheath formed by two fused stipules known as an ocrea, a thin, paper-like membrane – a characteristic of the family Polygonaceae. The stem leaves are alternate and are narrowly ovate–lanceolate. The inflorescence consists of large clusters of racemes which contain small greenish flowers that change to red as they mature. The perianth-segments are in two whorls of three. Segments in the outer whorl are small and spreading while the inner whorl forms fruit valves, which are widely ovately-triangular. The seeds produced are dry and reddish brown. This plant blooms June through September. [7]

Rumex crispus – curly dock – is similar in appearance, but with thinner and wave-like leaves. In more detail, the calyx of curly dock has smooth margins while the calyx of broad-leaved dock has horned margins.[ citation needed ]

Distribution and habitat

Rumex obtusifolius is widely distributed throughout the world. [2] It is a plant growing readily on arable land, meadows, waste ground, roadsides, ditches, shorelines, riverbanks, woodland margins, forest clearings, and orchards. [2] [7] Seedlings can be identified by the oval leaves with red stems and rolled leaves sprouting from the center of the plant. Regrowth from the rosette usually takes place in spring. [2]

Uses

Leaves of the plant can be used as salad, [2] to prepare a vegetable broth or to be cooked like spinach. They contain oxalic acid which can be hazardous if consumed in large quantities. [8] The dried seeds can be ground to make flour. In Turkey, Romania and Greece the leaves are sometimes used as an alternative to other plants in the making of sarmale. A tea prepared from the root was thought to cure boils. [9]

In Ireland and the United Kingdom, the plant is often found growing near stinging nettles and there is a widely held belief that the underside of the dock leaf, squeezed to extract a little juice, can be rubbed on the skin to counteract the itching caused by brushing against a nettle plant. [10] [11] This home remedy is not supported by any science, although it is possible that the act of rubbing may act as a distracting counterstimulation, or that belief in the dock's effect may provide a placebo effect. [12]

History

In George Eliot's Adam Bede , set in the early 19th century, broad dock leaves were used to wrap farmhouse butter. [13]

Host plant

Rumex obtusifolius is a major host plant for many different insects as well, including the Acronicta rumicis moth. For A. rumicis research, this host plant is generally targeted because it is found highly within the moth's range. [14]

Invasiveness and eradication

Rumex obtusifolius is an aggressive invasive species on all temperate continents. [2] Broad-leaved dock is designated an "injurious weed" under the UK Weeds Act 1959. [2] It has been an invasive species of the Great Lakes region of North America where it was first sighted in 1840. [15]

Various parasites and predators of R. obtusifolius include 32 insect species and 12 fungi species. [2] In the UK, the invertebrate herbivore species is a leaf beetle, Gastrophysa viridula . [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sorrel</span> Flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae

Sorrel, also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock.

<i>Rumex</i> Genus of plants

The docks and sorrels, genus Rumex, are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distribution, and introduced species growing in the few places where the genus is not native.

<i>Rumex crispus</i> Species of flowering plant

Rumex crispus, the curly dock, curled dock or yellow dock, is a perennial flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae, native to Europe and Western Asia.

<i>Rumex longifolius</i> Species of flowering plant

Rumex longifolius, commonly known as the dooryard dock or northern dock, is a perennial species of plant in the genus Rumex.

<i>Rumex maritimus</i> Species of flowering plant

Rumex maritimus, commonly called golden dock, bristle dock, or seashore dock, is an annual plant species of the genus Rumex. Rumex D maritimus grows in Argentina, Burma, Canada, China, and the United States. It is native to Canada and most of the 48 states. The life span of Rumex maritimus is rarely biennial in moist environments. This herb belongs to the family Polygonaceae.

<i>Campanula trachelium</i> Species of flowering plant

Campanula trachelium, the nettle-leaved bellflower, is a species of bellflower. It is a Eurasian blue wildflower native to Denmark and England and now naturalized in southeast Ireland. It is also found southward through much of Europe into Africa.

<i>Rumex hydrolapathum</i> Species of flowering plant

Rumex hydrolapathum, the great water dock, water dock, or giant water dock, is a species of perennial herbaceous plants in the genus Rumex native to fens and freshwater banks of Europe and Western Asia. It is the tallest species in the genus, with flowering stems attaining a height of up to 2 m. It is one of the small number of decaploid organisms, containing two hundred individual chromosomes.

<i>Rumex salicifolius</i> Species of flowering plant

Rumex salicifolius is a species of flowering perennial plant in the knotweed family known by the common names willow dock and willow-leaved dock. It is native to much of western North America, and more specifically, in southern and central parts of California, and some parts of Arizona and Nevada. It can also be found in parts of Europe as an introduced species and a roadside weed. It is an extremely variable plant which is generally divided into many varieties, some of which may actually be specimens of other species.

<i>Rumex venosus</i> Species of flowering plant

Rumex venosus is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by the common names veiny dock, winged dock, sand dock, and wild-begonia. While not of any particular agricultural use, its cousins rhubarb and buckwheat are. It is native to central and western North America, from southern parts of the Canadian prairies, through to Mexico.

<i>Rumex alpinus</i> Species of herb

Rumex alpinus, common name monk's-rhubarb, Munk's rhubarb or Alpine dock, is a leafy perennial herb in the family Polygonaceae. It is native to upland areas of Europe and Western Asia.

<i>Rumex sanguineus</i> Species of flowering plant

Rumex sanguineus, commonly known as wood dock, bloody dock or red-veined dock, is a perennial flowering plant species in the family Polygonaceae. Rumex sanguineus is a dicot and can be observed in Europe with at least two varieties.

<i>Rumex bucephalophorus</i> Species of flowering plant

Rumex bucephalophorus, also known as horned, red, or ruby dock is an annual herbaceous plant that is part of the family Polygonaceae. The scientific name Rumex bucephalophorus was first described and published by Linnaeus in 1753 in Species Plantarum. Other scientific names have also been given to Rumex bucephalophorus such as Bucephalophora aculeata and Lapathum bucephalophorum. R. bucephalophorus is most commonly found in subcoastal or coastal regions, but also are "casual aliens", few and far between, among inland populations. Rumex bucephalophorus is native to the Mediterranean Basin and grows best in areas with little human intervention.

<i>Rumex fueginus</i> Species of flowering plant

Rumex fueginus, known as American dock, golden dock, and Tierra del Fuego dock, is a flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae. Rumex fueginus was first formally named by Rodolfo Armando Phillipi. Rumex fueginus is native from Canada in northern North America to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. It has previously been considered a subspecies or variety of Rumex maritimus, a Eurasian species.

Rumex utahensis is a flowering plant species in the family Polygonaceae. The common name for this species is Utah dock. It is a dicot, perennial herb that is native to the United states, growing only in the West.

<i>Rumex occidentalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Rumex occidentalis is a flowering plant species belonging to the family Polygonaceae. Commonly known as western dock, Rumex occidentalis can be found in parts of Western North America.

Rumex lapponicus, known commonly as Lapland mountain sorrel is a perennial flowering herb species in the family Polygonaceae. It is commonly found in meadows and rock outcrops, as well as montane, arenicolous, and alluvial habitats.

<i>Rumex cuneifolius</i> Species of flowering plant

Rumex cuneifolius is a flowering plant species in the family Polygonaceae.

Rumex spiralis is a flowering plant commonly known as winged dock in the family Polygonaceae. This is a perennial herbaceous plant that is predominantly native to southern Texas. This plant grows between 0–200 m in altitude.

Rumex fascicularis is a plant from the family Polygonaceae. This specific plant species experiences perennial growth and is originally found in North Carolina. Rumex fascicularis is from the genus Rumex, which are herbs and it is commonly seen growing near swamps, shores of rivers and lakes.

<i>Rumex rupestris</i> Species of flowering plant

Rumex rupestris, commonly known as shore dock, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Polygonaceae. Its native range is Western Europe and is one of the world's rarest dock species.

References

  1. ↑ "Rumex sylvestris – Wallr". eunis.eea.europa.eu. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Rumex obtusifolius (broad-leaved dock)". CABI. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  3. ↑ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "​Rumex obtusifolius​". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "Broad-leaved dock". Queensland Government. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Broad-leaved dock". Massey University (New Zealand). Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  6. 1 2 Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9780521866453 (hardback), ISBN   9780521685535 (paperback). pp 277, 335
  7. 1 2 "Broad-leaved Dock: Rumex obtusifolius". NatureGate. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  8. ↑ Vasas, A., Orbán-Gyapai, O. and Hohmann, J., 2015. The Genus Rumex: Review of traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 175, pp.198-228.
  9. ↑ Ohio Perennial and Biennial Weed Guide
  10. ↑ "Plants". The Schools' Collection.[ unreliable source? ]
  11. ↑ "Recorded uses of' dock (Rumex sp.)". Ethnomedica. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2008.[ verification needed ]
  12. ↑ Hopcroft, Keith (10 September 2005). "Home remedies: dock leaves for nettle stings" . Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  13. ↑ Eliot, George (1859). Adam Bede (Modern Library, 2002); p93-94.
  14. ↑ Cho, Y., Kwon, O. & Nam, S.-H., 2006. Ecological and morphological characteristics of the endoparasitoids of larval Acronicta rumicis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Entomological Research, 36, pp. 208–215.
  15. ↑ "List of Invasive species in the Great Lakes Great Lakes United / Union Saint-Laurent Grands Lacs". Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.