Ethnobotany

1. Canaigre Dock – Rumex hymenosepalus ( RU-mex hi-men-oh-SEE-pal-us)
Family: Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family)
Native to: Southwestern U.S. including S. CA; usually in summer-dry sandy places in coastal
sage scrub, valley grassland, chaparral, joshua tree woodland, creosote bush scrub below 5000 ft.
Growth characteristics: spreadinging perennial mature height: 1-2 ft. mature width: 3-6 ft.
Drought-deciduous (dies back to root) herbaceous perennial. Large (to 1 ft long) fleshy leaves in a
basal rosette are blue-green to light green with some purple-pink. Similar to Curley Dock, but leaf
edges are not wavy. A bold-appearing plant.
Blooms/fruits: Blooms in spring or early summer depending on climate. Flowers are small, yellow-
pink densely packed on a stout flowering stem. The flowers are rapidly replaced by showy pink
bracts/seed pods. This is by far the prettiest of the Docks – very dramatic, showy.
Uses in the garden: Mostly planted for its useful traits – but could be used more generally. Early
spring leaves can be used sparingly as cooked greens. Their oxalic acid adds tang to any dish.
Often used a substitute for rhubarb in Southwestern U.S. Colored roots provide yellow, orange and
red-brown dyes & medicines. Excellent bird habitat plant. Fine for winter-wet areas of the garden.
Sensible substitute for: Non-native Docks, Canna.
Attracts: Excellent bird habitat: provides cover and seeds for food. Larval food for Copper
butterflies in other areas of the Southwest.
Requirements:
Element Requirement
Sun Full sun to part-shade.
Soil Most local soils – often somewhat heavy soils in wild; any local pH.
Water Likes good winter/spring rains (even flooding); summer dry (Zone 1-2 to 2) with
one watering in late summer (like summer monsoonal rain-storm).
Fertilizer OK with light fertilizer; better with leaf mulch.
Other
Management: Cut back dry flowering stalks in fall.
Propagation: from seed: direct seed - spring by divisions: dig up tuberous roots in fall.
Plant/seed sources (see list for source numbers): 2, 6, 13, 16, 38 1/29/13
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