Rumex crispus L.
Curly dock, wild rhubarb
This species is native to Europe and western Asia, now widespread throughout North America and most of the rest of the planet as well.
Plants: Plants are 12–55″ (30–140 cm) in height, erect but with a few branches.
Leaves: A large basal rosette about 1′ (30 cm) around consists of smooth-edged, distinctively wavy (“crisped”) alternate leaves. Each leaf is up to 6 ⨉ 1″ (15 ⨉ 2.5 cm), oblong-lanceolate in shape, and hairless. Fruit—the upper portion of the plants—and stems become dark brown as the plant ages.
Flowers: A panicle of racemes of whorls of flowers appears at the upper 6–18″ (15–45 cm). (In other words, there are a whole pile of tiny, greenish, weird-looking flowers.) Each yellowish or reddish green flower is about ⅛″ (3.2 mm) long. If you look closely, it consists of 3 inner sepals, 3 outer sepals, 3 styles, and an ovary.
Fruits: Each flower becomes a heart-shaped, toothless fruit 1/16–⅛″ (2–4 mm) that contains a single white seed. The seeds become dark brown, and can persist in the soil for up to 50 years.
Habitats: Disturbed habitats, railroad beds, fallow fields, ocean beaches, and other wetland margins.
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Similar species. |
Edibility: Stems and leaves are sometimes consumed with salad. Fairly high levels of oxalic acid make this plant mildly poisonous, and make regular consumption dangerous to people with a variety of pre-existing medical conditions. One death, from a soup made from the leaves, has been described.
Medical: No proven properties. Said to be laxative and mildly tonic.
Online References:
References:
Clemants, Steven; Gracie, Carol, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 232
Found a few feet from high tide, this could be the subspecies uglinosa or littoreus · 9/18/2016 · Deer Isle Beach Vegetation Recla 
4/29/2018 · Willow Spring Picnic Area, Red Rock Canyon, Nevada · ≈ 5 × 7″ (13 × 16 cm) 
5/26/2023 · Pownalborough Courthouse Trail, Dresden, Maine 
4/29/2018 · Willow Spring Picnic Area, Red Rock Canyon, Nevada · ≈ 6 × 8″ (16 × 20 cm) 
5/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 1 × 1½′ (34 × 52 cm) 
6/2/2014 · Big Bear Mountain, Brookline, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 7″ (14 × 18 cm) 
8/4/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 10 × 13″ (26 × 33 cm) 
6/16/2013 · Birch Point State Park, Owl’s Head, Maine · ≈ 1 × 1½′ (39 × 48 cm) 
7/7/2012 · Gibbet Hill, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 5″ (9.2 × 13 cm) 
6/22/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts 
6/13/2016 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Groton, Massachusetts 
4/29/2018 · Willow Spring Picnic Area, Red Rock Canyon, Nevada · ≈ 6 × 8″ (16 × 20 cm) 
8/1/2009 · Gordon & Kathy’s, Prospect, Maine · ≈ 1½ × 2½′ (55 × 83 cm) 
Found a few feet from high tide, this could be the subspecies uglinosa or littoreus · 9/18/2016 · Deer Isle Beach Vegetation Recla 
6/19/2024 · Red Rose Preserve, Bowdoinham, Maine · ≈ 8 × 12″ (20 × 31 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
8/4/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 10 × 13″ (26 × 33 cm) 
Found a few feet from high tide, this could be the subspecies uglinosa or littoreus · 9/18/2016 · Deer Isle Beach Vegetation Recla 
7/7/2012 · Gibbet Hill, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 11″ (18 × 27 cm) 
5/25/2016 · Andres Art Institute, Big Bear Mountain, Brookline, New Hampshire 
6/13/2016 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Groton, Massachusetts 
4/29/2018 · Willow Spring Picnic Area, Red Rock Canyon, Nevada · ≈ 5 × 7″ (13 × 16 cm) 
5/25/2016 · Andres Art Institute, Big Bear Mountain, Brookline, New Hampshire 
7/7/2012 · Gibbet Hill, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 9″ (14 × 22 cm) 
6/2/2014 · Big Bear Mountain, Brookline, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (21 × 14 cm) 
6/22/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 1 × 2′ (41 × 57 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Caryophyllidae | Cacti, many other succulents, carnivorous plants, and leadworts |
| Order | Caryophyllales | Includes cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, and many carnivorous plants |
| Family | Polygonaceae | Knotweed or smartweed family |
| Genus | Rumex | Ancient Latin for “docks or sorrels” |
| Species | crispus | Latin for “curled” or “wavy,” in reference to the leaves |
Rumex crispus description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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