Healing Gardens

Sour Dock

 

Family Name:  Buckwheat (3)

Family Name:  Polygonacea (3)

 

Latin Name:  Rumex crispus (3)

 

Common Name:  Sour Dock (3), Curled Dock (1:130), Yellow Dock (2:40)

 

Related Species: Genus Species

 

Body System Affiliations:  Digestive System (3)

 

Botanical Description:

            Habit:  Perennial (1:130)

            Size:  50-100 cm or more tall (1:130)

            Leaves:  “oblong to lance-shaped, rounded at base, to 40 cm long by 5 cm wide, with crisp curly edges; basal leaves long-stalked; stem leaves short-stalked to stalkless, reduced in size upwards with sheathing stipules at the base” (1:130)

            Flowers:  “greenish to dull rusty-brown, small, inconspicuous; numerous, whorled in dense, leafy-bracted clusters (to 40 cm in length) along upper part of stem and its branches” (1:130)

            Fruit:  “Acheses, lustrous reddish-brown, 3-angled, enveloped in the inner 3 flower scales which are enlarged to 4-5 mm long when in fruit, net-veined, and usually each with a grain-like swelling centered towards the base; fruiting clusters dense, brownish; stalks with swollen joint below midlength” (1:130)

            Underground Parts:  stout taproot is yellowish when cut (1:130)

 

Ecology:

            Habitat:  “Waste places, roadsides, meadows, cultivated fields and pastures; also in undisturbed sites such as upper parts of tidal marshes and the driftwood zone of beaches;” (1:130)

            Range: “common to low elevations throughout southern part of our region (south of 54 degrees), scattered northwards” (1:130)

 

 

Western (European-American) Uses/Relationships:

            Medicine:

                        Part Used: Root (2:40)

                        Medicinal Actions:  Alterative (2:40), purgative (2:40), cholagogue (2:40)

                        Indications:  Purgative action used to treat constipation (2:40); has been used extensively for treating chronic skin complaints (2:40)

                        Body System Associations:  Digestive System (3)

                        Constituents:  Anthraquinone glycosides (2:40), tannins (2:40)

                        Applications:  Decoction (2:40), Tincture (2:40)

                        Preparation: Decoction: 1 to 2 tsp of root in cup of water, bring to boil, simmer gently 10 to 15 min.  (2:40)

                        Pharmacy:  Tincture: take 1-4 ml 3 times a day (2:40)

 

References Cited:

 

1. Mackinnon, Andy, and Jim Pojar.  Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast.  Vancouver, British Columbia: Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing, 1994.

 

2. Hoffman, David.  The Herbal Handbook:  A User’s Guide to Medical Herbalism.  Rochester, VT:  Healing Arts Press, 1998.

 

3.  Eloheimo, Marja.  sayuyay Botanical Project:  Educational Garden Plant List.

            The Evergreen State College:  Healing Gardens, 2006.