This common dock is a perennial herb sometimes used in salad mixes, vegetable broths or cooked like spinach. Containing oxalic acid, quantities consumed should be limited lest nutritional deficiency or kidney stones develop.
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The scientific name is Rumex obtusifolius. Other names include broad-leaved dock, bluntleaf dock, dock leaf, butter dock, common dock, cushy cows, dock plant, kettle dock, lapathum syvestre, paenehua, round leaved dock, smair dock.
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There was a saying used when applied as a cure for Nettle stings:
'Nettle in, Dock;
Dock in, Nettle out
Dock rub Nettle out,'
This is the origin of the saying 'In Dock, out Nettle'.
A tea prepared from the roots was once though to cure boils.
A novel set in the 19th century has board dock leaves used to wrap farmhouse butter.
Bitter dock is native to Europe, from Western Europe, including Britain, from Scandanavia south and east to Spain, Germany and Hungary. It's been introduced to many other areas, like North America, Australia and New Zealand.
It's considered invasive and designated as an "injurious weed" in the UK.
It grows in many places, but prefers shade and moisture. It can be found in woodland area, meadow edges, along creeks, waste grounds, hedgegrows and the margins of fields. It prefers pH balanced soils, but can grow in acidic or alkaline soils as well.
Young leave are eaten fresh or cooked. They get more bitter as they get older. Cooking reduces the bitterness, as well as changing the water while cooking. Best to collect in early spring. Stems can also be eaten, preferably cooked. The seeds as well, which can be ground into a powder to make gruel or added to cereal flours for bread making.
Leaves have been used in rustic remedies to treat blisters, burns and scalds. The root has tannin which works as an astringent and blood purifier. Teas made from the roots have been used to treat jaundice, whooping cough, boils and bleeding. Infusions made from the roots were used to treat skin eruptions. Other uses include as a contraceptive and to stop menstruation.
Medicinal uses:
Abscess, bleeding, blisters, burns, gum disease, jaundice, leucorrhea, menopause, menstrual disorders, nose vloods, paprkinson's disease, whooping cough, scalds. Astringent, blood purifier, contraceptive, detoxicant, laxative, tonic.
The danger is in the calcium oxalates that can bind to calcium (and other nutrients) in the body and lead to deficiency if consumed for a long period of time. They can also lead to the build up of kidney stones if the formation of calcium oxalates is not excreted.
It can also irritate the skin, mouth, tongue, and throat, resulting in throat swelling, breathing difficulties, burning pain, and stomach upset.
Oxalic acid content is reduced when cooked. Those with rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity should avoid or be more cautious with use.
References:
Previous posts on Getting to Know Herbs:
Butterfly Weed / Pleurisy Root | Joe-Pye Weed / Gravel Root | Valerian | Malva/Mallow | Boneset | Elecampane | Lungwort | Cramp Bark | Motherwort | Common Plantain | Eleuthero (Siberian ginseng) | Black Cohosh | Common Bearberry | Mahonia Mountain Grape (Oregon Grape) | Blue Cohosh | Goldenseal
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