Rumex patientia seed

LATIN NAME: RUMEX PATIENTIA

COMMON NAME: Patience Dock

In the damp meadows and the waysides of the temperate world, the patience dock grows as a robust, clumping, perennial herb with the large, oblong, wavy-edged, dark-green leaves and the tall, branched spikes of small, greenish flowers that ripen to the brown, winged fruits. The young plant grows into a multi-stemmed clump, to about twelve metres. Site it in full sun, in deep, fertile ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The patience dock shows up in the studies of the pot herbs of the old world, its large leaves and its tall seed spikes keeping it in view in the work on the cultivated sorrels and the leafy vegetables of the early kitchen gardens. The research looks at the way the broad leaves carry the leaf harvest, the winged fruits ripen and scatter, and the seed biology of the small, hardy seeds.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the kitchen garden and the herb bed, the patience dock gives the large, tangy leaves that were cooked as a pot herb in the old gardens of Europe for centuries. The bold clump stands the cold and the rough treatment, and the plant makes the fine pot herb, the perennial vegetable and the easy plant of the moist garden. It is a plant for the open, sunny, deep and moist place.

To grow the Patience Dock from seed, sow the seeds on the surface of moist, rich soil, barely covering them.

Sow the seeds on the surface of moist, rich soil, barely covering them, and keep the young docks in the open, sunny spot. The broad leaves carry the harvest.

 

 

 

 

LATIN NAME: Rumex patientia

COMMON NAME: Patience Dock, Garden Patience, Monks Rhubarb

Patience dock is a tall and useful plant of the vegetable garden, and it has been grown and eaten in Europe for centuries. It establishes itself as a compact, leafy clump, staying under a metre. It is a native of southeastern Europe and western Asia, and in spring its young leaves are often eaten as a leaf vegetable and used as a filling in pies in southern Europe, especially in Bulgaria and North Macedonia, while it has also been grown as a substitute for rhubarb, giving it the name monks rhubarb.

Patience dock belongs to the knotweed family, Polygonaceae, and it is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant. In spring it is often consumed as a leaf vegetable and as a filling in pies in southern Europe, especially in Bulgaria and North Macedonia, and it has long been grown in the vegetable garden.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

Patience dock has a genuine and growing place in both food and botanical research. It has been studied in ethnobotany and in the research on traditional foods, since it has been grown and eaten in Europe for centuries, and its use as a spring leaf vegetable and as a filling in pies has been examined, while its long cultivation has made it of interest in the study of the traditional vegetables of Europe. The plant has also been studied for its chemistry and its nutritional value, since its leaves are eaten as a vegetable, and researchers have examined their content and their qualities, while the genus Rumex, the docks, is of interest in botany for its many species and their relationships. The species has also been studied in ecology, since it is a native of the meadows and waysides of southeastern Europe. For a plant of such long use, patience dock has a steady and growing record of research.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

Ecologically, patience dock is a generous plant of the garden and the meadow. Its small flowers feed insects, its seeds feed birds, and its bold, leafy growth covers the ground, while it has been a familiar presence in the gardens and the waysides of Europe for a long time.

Its economic value is historic and real. Its young leaves have been eaten as a spring vegetable in southern Europe for centuries, used fresh and as a filling in pies, and it has also been grown as a substitute for rhubarb, while it is a hardy and easy plant of the vegetable garden. For a grower, patience dock is an easy and useful plant, and for a gardener it brings bold leaves and a link to the old vegetable gardens of Europe. The seeds are easy — sow them in a pot of moist compost in spring, keep them lightly watered in a sunny or partly shaded spot, and theyll sprout within a couple of weeks, growing on into a tall, leafy perennial.

Botanical name: Rumex patientia

Common Names: Patience Dock, English spinach, Garden patience, Herb patience, Monks rhubarb.

Habitat: Patience Dock is found in the Himalayas, from Afghanistan to Himachal Pradesh, at altitudes of 2100-4100 m. It is common in Ladakh and Lahaul. It is also found in C. Asia and W. Asia.

Plant Description: Patience Dock is a perennial herb with stout erect stem up to 1.2 m tall, branched at top. Lower leaves are oblong-lanceshaped pointed, with often wavy margins, carried on long stalks. Upper leaves are smaller, lanceshaped. Flowers are small, yellowish-green, in whorls arranged in numerous spike-like clusters forming a long compact leafy inflorescence. Fruit is enclosed in rounded net-veined valves 4-6 x 4-5 mm, with notched or cut-off base and more or less pointed tip. As the leaves become large and perhaps tough, simply cut the plants back and new, tender leaves will quickly appear. Patience dock is an extremely long-lived plant, and is cold-hardy to at least Zone 4. Flowering: June-July.

Plant Part/s Used Traditionally: Whole plant,Flower,Leaves,Seeds.