Rumex alpinus 

'Monk’s Rhubarb'

Polygonaceae: a perennial to 0.60-2m, with a creeping rhizome. Along the banks of streams and by the sides of roads, it is also found near human habitations, in hilly areas. The flowers are arranged in much-branched, dense terminal compound panicles. The flowers are dioecious and anemophilous. Blooming around May. The fruits are brown, three-sided achenes. The leaves are very large, ovate-round, with long stout leaf stalks and irregular margins. Native to Central and Southern Europe and to Western Asia. It is naturalized in Britain.

USES:

The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. They can also be dried for later use. They have a strong flavour, the leaves can be used in salads in late autumn to the spring, but are better cooked like spinach. The fresh leaves can be available for most months of the year, only dying down for a short period in severe winters. The leaves often become bitter in the summer, so are better used from autumn to spring.

The root is astringent and laxative. It has a regulatory effect on the digestive system, like but weaker than rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum). It can act either as a laxative or a cure for diarrhoea according to dosage. The root is harvested in early spring and dried for later use.

GROWING INFORMATION:

The seed can also be sown as soon as it is ripe, these plants could provide edible leaves from early spring the following year. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.

A very easily grown and tolerant plant, it succeeds in most soils, preferring a moist moderately fertile well-drained soil in a sunny position. Hardy to about -20°C. Alpine dock was at one time cultivated for its edible leaves, though it has now fallen out of favour to be replaced by less strong-tasting plants. This is a pity because it is a very productive and useful vegetable and can produce its leaves all through the winter if the weather is not too severe. A very important plant for the caterpillars of many species of butterflies.

HARVESTED: 2021*

 
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