Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Rumex crispus
Common name
Curled dock
Family
Polygonaceae
Where found
Grassy areas, damp disturbed sites, roadsides, gardens, and near streams. Widespread.
Notes
Introduced perennial herb to 1.5 m tall. Stems hairless, smooth or slightly ribbed. Leaves basal and alternating up the stems. Basal leaves 3-60 cm long, 10-100 mm wide, stem leaves smaller. Leaves with a sheath at the base of the stalk, hairless, margins finely curled, usually also wavy, tips pointed. Flowers small, with 6 'petals', whitish to green, becoming reddish-brown as the seed cases mature. Flowers in many-flowered whorls close together on the stems. Flowers mostly Spring to Summer. Seed cases with a broadly oval to almostround'wing'.
The commonest introduced Rumex in Australia.
Can hybridise with Rumex obtusifolius.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Rumex~crispus (accessed 4 February, 2021)
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