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Rumex hypogaeus
Also called Cat's head, Devil's thorn, Prickly jack, Spiny emex, Three-cornered jack, Devils Dock, Devils Thorn
Cape spinach (Rumex hypogaeus) is a low, herbaceous annual from South Africa that sprawls over disturbed, sandy ground and is often treated as a weed. Its spiny fruit clusters are the key feature and the main reason it is a nuisance.
Rumex hypogaeus (synonym Emex australis), commonly known in English as southern threecornerjack, devil's thorn, or double gee (also doublegee, from the old Afrikaner name dubbeltge-doorn - 'double thorned'), is a herbaceous plant of the Polygonaceae. It is native in South Africa and is an invasive species in Australia, Texas in the USA, and Pakistan.
It favours disturbed sites, on sandy soils. It is native to South Africa and has become naturalised in California, Trinidad, Europe, India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Hawaii, and Australia.
Sorrel · Sheep's Sorrel · Curled Dock · Toothed dock · Broad-leaved Dock · Patience Dock · Fiddle Dock · Garden Sorrel · Rambling dock · Willow dock · French sorrel · Dock
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Rumex hypogaeus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
