curled dock (South Georgia Flora)

curled dock

Rumex crispus

Summary ²

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.

Curled dock is a narrow upright, hairless perennial herb, 30 – 100 cm; stems green or reddish, hairless and weakly ridged. Most leaves are basal, arranged alternately, long and linear, stalked; characteristic membranous sheath surrounds stem at each node at leaf base; leaf blade up to 35 cm long, slightly leathery with prominent midrib and distinctly wavy/ ‘crisped’ margins. Small, non-showy flowers produced in whorls, on short stalks; formed of green sepals that turn reddish-brown at maturity; no petals. Dry, 3-winged, non-toothed, papery, brown, membranous structure covered with net-like veins encloses triangular nut, 5 x 3 mm; wind dispersed; may be viable in the soil for 5 years or more.

Distibution ³

Only known from Grytviken whaling station

Comments ⁴

Forms rosette with large leaves (up to 30cm) for 2 or more years before flowering on short stalks. Curled dock could be mistaken for sheep’s sorrel, however the latter is smaller with separate male and female plants and hastate-shaped leaves. Curled dock is initially rosette-forming, remaining in this phase for two or more years before flowering; after flowering, stems and foliage die, turning dark brown.

Sources and Credits

(c) Kelvin Floyd, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Kelvin Floyd
Adapted by stuwhiterod from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumex_crispus
(c) Kelvin Floyd, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Adapted by stuwhiterod from a work by (c) Kelvin Floyd, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

iNat Map

Group	Forb
Category	Non Native

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curled dock

Summary 2

Distibution 3

Comments 4