About

Rumex venosus is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by the common names veiny dock, winged dock, sand dock, and wild-begonia (though it is not related to the genus Begonia). While not of any particular agricultural use, its cousins rhubarb and buckwheat are. It is native to central and western North America, from southern parts of the Canadian prairies, through to Mexico.

It can be found in many types of habitat, including sagebrush, dunes, and other sandy areas. It is commonly found in heavily grazed pastures as livestock tend to avoid it, allowing veiny dock to spread uninhibited. It is a common food plant of the ruddy copper butterfly.

Uses

Like all docks, Rumex venosus is considered edible, but the young leaves tend to be too sour to be palatable. Since the leaves and shoots remain tender for most of the growing season, docks make good cooked vegetables, similar to beet shoots, but will likely require multiple boiling to remove some of the bitter taste. The achenes can be boiled into a mush or ground into a flour, but the process of removing the seeds from the chaff is considered too time consuming to be worth the effort. Docks contain high levels of vitamin C and beta-carotene, with Rumex crispus having the highest levels, greater than that of oranges and carrots, respectively.

Other Rumex plants

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