Water Dock

(Rumex orbiculatus)

 

   

 

 

Color Photographs: USDA, NRCS, 1995-Midwestern Wetland Flora.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Water Dock (Rumex orbiculatus Gray)

Identification: Flowers small, green, on long flower stalks, hanging downward. Flowers arranged in terminal spikes and lateral branches. Fruit ovate with a small, central seed surround by papery wings with ragged outer margins. Leaves elongate (up to 2 feet in length), large, petioles commonly tinged with red. Plant 3 to 7 feet in height.

Distribution: Newfoundland west to Minnesota, southward to New Jersey, Illinois, and Kansas.

Habitat: Water Dock is found in swamps and along the shores of lakes and rivers.

Flowering period: June to September.

Similar Species: A number of Rumex species have similar general appearance. Swamp Dock is similar, but generally smaller. The flower pedicels (stalks) are slightly longer. The seed wings are not rough on the margins and more heart-shaped than round. Patience Dock (Rumex patientia) (not treated here) is a slightly smaller species than Water Dock and is a weed on empty lots and roadsides.

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