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How to Manage Pests

Identification: Weed Photo Gallery

Curly dock

Scientific name: Rumex crispus (Family Polygonaceae)

Life stages of Curly dock top picture bottom left picture bottom right picture

Click on image to enlarge

DESCRIPTION:
Curly dock, a perennial weed, usually grows in wet areas and is frequently associated with overwatering or standing water in low areas. A member of the buckwheat family, it has characteristic jointed stems, a membranous sheath at the leaf base, and usually swollen nodes. The mature plant has stout stems and can be 2 to 5 feet (0.6 - 1.5 m) tall. Succulent cotyledons are 3 times long as they are broad. Young seedlings vary in color, from entirely green to being red tinged in the cooler months. The long, loosely branched inflorescence has green flowers that are not showy. The stem dies back in the fall while a basal rosette of leaves forms. Curly dock can grow from cuttings of its thick and fleshy taproot. Seeds may be dispersed by wind and water.

Broadleaf ID illustration.


Statewide IPM Program, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California
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For noncommercial purposes only, any Web site may link directly to this page. FOR ALL OTHER USES or more information, read Legal Notices. Unfortunately, we cannot provide individual solutions to specific pest problems. See How to manage pests, or in the U.S., contact your local Cooperative Extension office for assistance. /PMG/WEEDS/curly_dock.html revised: March 11, 2008. Contact webmaster.