Dock Family:-

Docks and Sorrels (Rumex and Oxyria):-

"The great majrity of our Docks - Dockens in the North - and Sorrels are both hairless and perennial. All have alternate leaves, narrowing up the stem, with thin papery sheaths at their base, and more or less branched terminal spikes of numerous small stalked greenish flowers, often tinged reddish, with their parts in twos (Oxyria) or threes (Rumex). Their fruits are 3-sided nuts, on which in some Docks are 1 or 3 small warts. Fully ripe fruits are essential for accurate identification of certain Docks; the lower leaves are also useful, but have often withered by the time the fruit is ripe. The dead brown flowering stems of many Docks persist conspicuously into the winter.

Our three Sorrels are generally slenderer than our score of Docks, and have acid-tasting arrow- or halberd-shaped leaves. The two abundant species, Sheep's and Common Sorrels, both have the male and female flowers on separate plants, and often turn a brilliant red as they go over, especially in dry places. Docks, on the other hand, are generally taller, stouter and greener, and unlike the Sorrels, redily hybridise. The most frequent hybrid is between Curled and Broad-leaved Docks; the others are too many to enumerate here.

Goosefoots are similar-looking green weedy plants, but have no papery sheaths, and rounded, not 3-angled fruits, and all but one are annuals." from Collins Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers by David McClintock and R.S.R. Fitter assisted by Francis Rose - ISBN 0 00 219363 9 - Eleventh Impression 1978

Dock Family plant table with its Common Name - Botanical Name. Flowering Months Range. Habitat with link to that Wild Flower Gallery:-

Common Name

Botanical Name

Flowering Months

Habitat

Argentine Dock

(Wedge Leaf Dock)

Rumex cuneifolius

(Rumex frutescens)

July-August

A rhizomatous perennial herb which is naturalised on sand dunes in S.W. England and S. Wales; elsewhere it is a casual from wool shoddy and grain, especially around docks. Lowland.

Broad-leaved Dock

Rumex obtusifolius

June onwards

A perennial herb of field margins, hedge banks, roadsides, stream and river banks, ditches and neglected cultivated ground. Mostly lowland, up to 565 m on Dent Crag (Westmorland), but with an exceptional record at 845 m on Great Dun Fell (Westmorland).

Flower in June

Flowers in June

Foliage in October

Form in June

Butter Dock

(Northern Dock)

Rumex longifolius

June-July

A perennial herb of open, disturbed ground on roadsides, river banks, streamsides and lake shores, in fields and around farms. 0?520 m (Hartside, Cumberland, and in Atholl, E. Perth).

Clustered Dock

Rumex conglomeratus

June onwards

A short-lived perennial herb of wet meadows, stream and river banks, ditches, muddy pathsides and field margins and gateways, often in places flooded or waterlogged in winter. 0-420 m (Swindale, Westmorland).

Common Sorrel

Rumex acetosa

May-August

A tufted, short-lived perennial of neutral to slightly acidic soil in meadows, pastures, woodland rides and glades, mountain ledges and shingle beaches; absent from severely improved grasslands and leys. 0-1215 m (Breadalbanes, Mid Perth).

Curled Dock

Rumex crispus

June onwards

An annual to short-lived perennial herb of waste ground, roadsides, disturbed pastures and arable land; also in a range of coastal habitats including drift-lines, shingle beaches, sand dunes, tidal river banks and the uppermost parts of saltmarshes.

Flower from Rhomney Marsh in Kent in August

Flowers from Rhomney Marsh

Foliage from Sandwich in Kent

Form from Rhomney Marsh

Fiddle Dock

Rumex pulcher

June-August

A biennial or short-lived perennial herb of dry coastal pastures and slightly disturbed grassland on commons, village greens, churchyards and roadsides, mainly on lighter soils and often where the habitat is grazed or trampled. Lowland.

Golden Dock

Rumex maritimus

June onwards

An annual to short-lived perennial herb, growing on the margins of pools, lakes, rivers and ditches, in clay-pits and wet hollows in marshy fields. Its sites are usually waterlogged in winter, but it occasionally occurs on dry ground. It can tolerate mildly saline conditions. Lowland.

Great Water Dock

(Water Dock)

Rumex hydrolapathum

July-September

A tufted perennial herb found, usually as an emergent, on the margins of slow-flowing rivers and streams, by canals, lakes and ponds, and in ditches. It can also colonise bare ground in marshes and fens, but does not survive in closed vegetation. Lowland.

Flower from Kenfig Burrows in July

Form from Higham in Kent in May

Foliage from Kenfig Burrows in July

Form from Kenfig Burrows in July

Iceland Purslane

Koenigia islandica

June-September

Perhaps our tiniest land plant. Mountains (recently detected on bare damp ground on hills in North Skye)

Marsh Dock

Rumex palustris

June onwards

An annual, biennial or short-lived perennial, typical of wet, nutrient-rich mud exposed in summer and autumn, most often in marshes and beside ponds and ditches, but also in clay- and gravel-pits and on damp disturbed ground. It is also an occasional weed of dry open sites, and has been recorded as a ballast alien. Lowland.

Flower from Decoy Farm on 28 August

Flowers from High Halstow in Kent in September

Foliage from High Halstow in September

Form from High Halstow in September

Monk's-Rhubarb

Rumex alpinus

(Rumex pseudoalpinus)

June-July

A rhizomatous perennial herb found growing near farm buildings, by streams and on roadsides, especially in places manured by animals. Lowland to 375 m at Dowthwaite Head (Cumberland).

Mountain Sorrel

Oxyria digyna

June-August

A tufted perennial herb of damp, ungrazed mountain ledges, wet, shaded gullies and the sides of gills and streams. In Scotland it sometimes descends to near sea level along streams, but usually occurs above 150 m, reaching 1190 m on Ben Lawers (Mid Perth).

Flower near Loch Stack in Sutherland on 8 August

Flowers near Loch Stack on 8 August

Foliage near Loch Stack on 8 August

Form near Loch Stack on 8 August

Patience Dock

Rumex patientia

May-June

A perennial herb which is naturalised on waste ground and river banks, especially near docks, wharves, breweries, former gasworks and other waste ground. It originates as a garden escape and from grass and clover seed. Lowland.

Sheep's Sorrel

Rumex acetosella

May-August

A rhizomatous perennial herb of dry heaths, non-calcareous sand dunes, shingle beaches and other short, open grasslands on acidic, impoverished, sandy or stony soils. It is sometimes found on outcrops of acidic rocks. 0-1050 m (Carnedd Llewelyn, Caerns.).

Flower from Norfolk

Flowers from Norfolk in June

Foliage from Thetford in May

Form from Thetford in May

Shore Dock

Rumex rupestris

May-June

A perennial herb of sand and shingle beaches, the base of often unstable sea-cliffs, amongst coastal rocks and in damp dune-slacks; invariably in places where freshwater trickles, or streams debouch, onto the shore. Lowland.

Trossachs Dock

Rumex aquaticus

July-September

An aquatic perennial herb growing on silty and gravelly lake shores, beside ditches and streams, in marshes, wet fields and woodland clearings. Lowland.

Wood or Red-veined Dock

Rumex sanguineus

June onwards

A short-lived perennial herb of woodland margins and rides, hedgerows, roadsides and waste ground. Found on a wide range of soils but favouring damp clay, and usually in more shaded, drier places than R. conglomeratus. Mainly lowland, but reaching 350 m in Glen Shee (Angus) and 380 m in W. Yorkshire.

Flower from Hothfield in July

Flowers from Hothfield in July

Foliage

Form