Common Names: Curled dock, garden patience, narrow dock, sour dock, rumex. Medicinal Part: The root.Â
Description: Yellow dock is a perennial plant found as a troublesome weed in fields and waste places in Europe, the U.S. and southern Canada. Its spindle-shaped, yel- low taproot sends up a smooth, rather slender stem, 1 to 3 feet high. Lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate in shape, the pointed light-green leaves have predominantly wavy margins. The lower leaves are larger and longer-petioled than the upper. Blooming from June to July, the numerous pale-green, drooping flowers are loosely whorled in panicled racemes. The fruit is a pointed, three-angled and heart-shapedÂ
nut.Â
Properties and Uses: Astringent, cholagogue, tonic. Known as a medicinal plant since ancient times, yellow dock has been used as a laxative or mild astringent tonic. In the nineteenth century, it was considered a “blood purifier” and was pre- scribed for eruptive diseases, such as scrofula, and skin problems. The ointment is valuable for itching, sores, swellings and scabby eruptions. American Indians ap- plied crushed yellow dock leaves to boils and the pulverized roots to cuts.
