Dock (plant)

Dock (plant), common name for a group of about 200 species of herbaceous plants of the buckwheat family, widely distributed in temperate areas of the world. Dock plants usually have stout taproots and large basal leaves. The flowers lack petals and are individually inconspicuous, but they are often brightly colored and borne in dense clusters. Most species are weeds. Great water dock, which grows to 2 m (6 ft), is cultivated for landscaping; the leaves of curly dock and patience dock are used as pot greens. The roots of canaigre, or wild rhubarb, a red-stemmed plant native to the southwestern United States, produce tannins, used in leather manufacture. Both the leaves and leafstalks of wild rhubarb are eaten, although the leaves of the unrelated garden rhubarb are poisonous. The lower-growing species of dock are also called sorrel.

Scientific classification: Docks belong to the family Polygonaceae. Great water dock is classified as Rumex hydrolapathum, curly dock as Rumex crispus, patience dock as Rumex patientia, and canaigre, or wild rhubarb, as Rumex hymenosepalus.