CLUSTERED DOCK

Rumex conglomeratus

Dock & Knotweed Family [Polygonaceae]

Flowers:
month8may month8jun month8june

Fruit:
fruit8jun fruit8june fruit8jul fruit8july fruit8aug fruit8sep fruit8sept fruit8oct

status
statusZnative
 
flower
flower8white
 
inner
inner8cream
 
morph
morph8actino
 
petals
petalsZ6
(3+3)
type
typeZclustered
 
type
typeZtieredwhorls
 
stem
stem8square
 
stem
stem8round
 
stem
stem8ribbed
 

5th July 2014, Leeds & L/pool canal, Litherland, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Grows to 60cm high, max 1m in damp places, such as by canals or ponds.


5th July 2014, Leeds & L/pool canal, Litherland, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Stems not-straight, but slightly zig-zag (unlike Wood Dock where they are straight). Long branches spread apart at angles >30° to 90° (whereas in Wood Dock they are at between 15° to 25° occasionally to 45°.


5th July 2014, Leeds & L/pool canal, Litherland, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
With leaves almost to the summit (unlike those of Wood Dock where they stop several tiers short).


5th July 2014, Leeds & L/pool canal, Litherland, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Fruits without petals in well-spaced whorls.


5th July 2014, Leeds & L/pool canal, Litherland, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Some leaves slightly waisted (unlike those on Wood Dock) and occasionally crisped, as here.


5th July 2014, Leeds & L/pool canal, Litherland, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Three un-toothed (entire) oblong to narrowly-ovate tepals each host a large, oval, red, pink or white wart (tubercle). (Wood Dock has but one tepal and only one wart).


5th July 2014, Leeds & L/pool canal, Litherland, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD


5th July 2014, Leeds & L/pool canal, Litherland, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
The fruits are suspended on thin stems (petioles).


5th July 2014, Leeds & L/pool canal, Litherland, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Flower stems often reddish at the base, as here. (Stem obviously square with ribs on the flowering spikes, but this is not an identifying feature).


5th July 2014, Leeds & L/pool canal, Litherland, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
3's


5th July 2014, Leeds & L/pool canal, Litherland, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD


5th July 2014, Leeds & L/pool canal, Litherland, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Lower leaves larger than upper. Leaves approximately oblong, some slightly waisted, and with a rounded base,


Not to be semantically confused with : Clustered Bellflower (Campanula glomerata), Clustered Clover (Trifolium glomeratum) [plants with similar names belonging to differing families].

Easily mistaken for : Wood Dock (Rumex sanguineus) but that prefers drier and shadier places such as woods. Other differences are shown in the photo captions.

Hybridizes with the similar : Wood Dock (Rumex sanguineus) to produce Rumex × ruhmeri which is the second-most fertile hybrid, but the similarity of both parents makes confirmation of the hybrid very difficult. It is probably frequent throughout the British Isles.

Likes to grow in sunny damp places such as by canals, beside ponds, ditches, streams, rivers and wettish meadows, field margins and field tracks. It is also able to tolerate brackish water.

Although Docks do indeed have flowers they are seldom seen in real life and seldom mentioned or shown in identification books because the flowers themselves must have no unique identifying features apart from the shape of the tepals; unlike as with the fruits which come afterwards and last a lot longer than the flowers.


  Rumex conglomeratus  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Polygonaceae  

Distribution
 family8Dock & Knotweed family8Polygonaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Rumex
Rumex
(Docks)

CLUSTERED DOCK

Rumex conglomeratus

Dock & Knotweed Family [Polygonaceae]