Page 64 - The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods
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Dock, Rumex spp. (POLYGONACEAE)
RUMEX genus has 200 species of docks and sor- HOW TO HARVEST AND EAT: Leaves are edible
rels, which may be perennial, biennial, and annual. cooked or raw. They have a sour, tart, or bitter flavor.
All species are considered edible. Rumex are erect Removing the leaf stem and core, like you would do to
plants, with fleshy almost leathery leaves that form kale, improves flavor and texture. Stems can be peeled
a 1 ft. (0.3 m) basal rosette from a long taproot. Nat- and eaten. Seeds are tedious to harvest and prepare,
uralized in North America but introduced from Eu- but can be ground into a flour substitute or roasted
rope, Curled Dock, Rumex crispus, is the best to eat. and used as a coffee substitute.
It is a robust perennial that grows 1½-5 ft. (45-150 DOCK SEED FLOUR: (recipe credit: Heather Swift)
cm) tall. Broadleaf Dock, Rumex obtusifolius, is con-
Harvest brown, dried seed heads in fall using the
sidered a good substitute.
“squeegee method”: use your fingers and pull the
FLOWER: Dense, hanging, 6-18-inch (15-45 cm) seeds off and collect in a container. Each seed has
whorled clusters of small, ⅛-inch (3 mm) reddish a husk. To winnow the seeds from the chaff, use a
green or white flowers grow at the top of long stalks, large, flat container with side edges, toss lightly to
which develop into tiny smooth, dry, one-seeded,
allow the chaff to separate. Crush a bit if needed. You
⅙-inch (4 mm) fruit.
will not be able to get all the chaff removed from the
LEAF: Oval to arrow-shaped, dull green, hairless, 6 seed, but they will add extra fiber. Crush in a coffee
inch (15 cm) long and 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide, leaves are grinder or seed grinder. Use or keep dry and store
narrower at the tips and rounded. Curled Dock has in a glass jar. Dock seeds can be used for baking. It
curled leaf margins.
does not contain gluten or any other binding agent.
EDIBLE PARTS: seeds, leaves, stems, roots (for tea)
WARNING: Leaf sap may cause dermatitis. High in sol-
KEY MEDICINAL USES: May have a laxative effect and uble oxalates, which may be detrimental to livestock.
astringent qualities to help clean the liver. Seeds may be toxic to chickens.
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