Meet my friend yellow dock (Rumex crispus). They decided a great place to grow would be my front flower bed, and I let them stay. Unfortunately, they invited a TON of relatives to move in, and now they (like my friend Motherwort) are trying to take over my front yard. The brown bits at the top are seeds, and the wind does a great job of sowing them far and wide. (That’s mint at the bottom of the picture. The yellow dock has wide fat leaves, upright stems, and white or green flower clusters that turn into the brown seedpods).

Yellow dock is usually found on roadsides and in pastures. It is not a particularly ornamental plant, although I suppose you could use it that way. In herbal medicine, we use the root of the plant, primarily. The root, either powdered or used as a tea or tincture, helps to stimulate peristalsis (movement of food thru the gut), so it can work as a gentle laxative. Hint: if you ever see the word ‘purgative’ in herbal texts, be cautious. Read that word as ‘explosive diarrhea.’ Just a word of warning from your friendly neighborhood herbalist!

Yellow dock leaves can also be used as a poultice for wounds, although I have not tried that. I think it would work fine, I just don’t have experience with it used that way.

The young leaves can be eaten. Like many wild greens (and domesticated ones like spinach), yellow dock is high in oxalic acid. It gives it a lovely tart flavor, but can be problematic if you suffer from kidney stones. All things in moderation.

The seed heads can be used as a grain substitute. The nice thing about this (or so says the internet), is that the seed husks can be ground as part of the flour. That allows you to skip the step of winnowing (separating the seed of the grain from the coating of the grain).

Surprisingly, the ‘yellow’ root of yellow dock doesn’t contain berberine (a yellow colored constituent that is found in goldenseal and Oregon grape used as an antibacterial). Not sure where the ‘yellow’ in the name comes from, as the ‘flowers’ from this plant are green to white and the root is usually white or gray and dries to a brown.

Yellow dock is also used as a liver herb to help the body detoxify. It’s not as strong of an alterative as say burdock (Arctium lappa) or milk thistle seed (Silybum marianum).

And here you thought it was just a weed!