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Rumex patientia
Also called Spinach Dock, Herb Patience
Patience dock is a hardy perennial Rumex, grown as a leafy vegetable in southern and eastern Europe and Turkey. It is an easy, vigorous plant that tolerates a wide range of conditions, but it spreads readily and can become weedy.
Rumex patientia, known as patience dock, garden patience, herb patience, or monk's rhubarb, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant belonging to the family Polygonaceae. In spring it is often consumed as a leaf vegetable and as a filling in pies in Southern Europe, especially in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is also used in Romania in spring broths or sarmale.
The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked, but do contain oxalic acid, so should not be eaten in excess (e.g. every day). The leaves can be used raw in salads, cooked in soups and stews, or layered in baked dishes like lasagna. The leaves are high in minerals, and can be harvested at any time.
Sorrel · Sheep's Sorrel · Curled Dock · Toothed dock · Cape spinach · Broad-leaved Dock · Fiddle Dock · Garden Sorrel · Rambling dock · Willow dock · French sorrel · Dock
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Rumex patientia 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.
