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Rumex sanguineus
Also called Red-veined dock, Redvein Dock, Bloodwort Dock, Bloody Dock, Blood Dock, Blood Sorrel
Rumex sanguineus, commonly known as wood dock, bloody dock or red-veined dock, is a perennial flowering plant species in the family Polygonaceae. Rumex sanguineus is a dicot and can be observed in Europe with at least two varieties.
Rumex sanguineus is common in most of Europe south of about 60 degrees north, but not in Russia and rarely in the Mediterranean. It inhabits damp, shady places, especially in woodland. It is an agricultural weed that can be found in the vegetation surrounding arable fields.
The wood dock is edible. However, as it contains antinutritive and harmful oxalic acid and its salts (oxalates), it is slightly toxic and should not be eaten in large quantities. (The contents are lower than in the related and better-known sorrel.) It is both used as a wild vegetable and cultivated, with plants and seeds being sold commercially. It contains considerable amounts of vitamin C and carotene. The (preferably young) leaves are eaten, for example, in salads. However, related species such as common sorrel and French sorrel are generally preferred for use as a vegetable. Wood dock is said to be less flavorsome and more ornamental. Since mainly the leaves are valued, the less conspicuous inflorescences are often removed early to stimulate more vigorous leaf growth and to prevent (possibly heavy) uncontrolled spreading.
Abyssinian Dock · Sorrel · Sheep's Sorrel · Munk's rhubarb · Pale dock · Rumex andinus · Scottish Dock · Arctic dock · Azorean Dock · Bering Sea dock · Pale dock · Hooked Dock
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Rumex sanguineus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
