Rumex paucifolius
Nutt.
Fewleaved dock, Alpine Sheep Sorrel
(c) Curren Frasch, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Curren Frasch
(c) Paul G. Johnson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Paul G. Johnson
(c) Brent Miller, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves, Seeds, Stem
The leaves and stems can be eaten raw or cooked. The seeds are also edible raw or cooked, and can be ground into a meal and prepared as a porridge.
Known Hazards
Where to Find It
It is a temperate plant.
Canada, North America, USA,
How to Identify
Perennial species with dioecious flowers, requiring both male and female plants for seed production. Wind-pollinated and not self-fertile. Tolerates light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils, preferring well-drained conditions. Grows in mildly acid, neutral, or basic soils. Adapts to semi-shade or full light and prefers moist to wet soil.
How to Grow
We have very little information on this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain, though judging by its native range it should succeed outdoors in most parts of this country. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus. Succeeds in most soils but prefers a deep fertile moderately heavy soil that is humus-rich, moisture-retentive but well-drained and a position in full-sun or part shade. Dioecious, male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.
Propagation: Sow seed in spring in a cold frame. Prick seedlings out into individual pots once large enough to handle, and plant out during summer. Plants can also be propagated by division in spring.
Medicinal Uses
None known
Other Uses
No specific dye data has been recorded for this species, but roots of many plants in this genus yield dark green to brown and dark grey dyes without requiring a mordant.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Rumex paucifolius is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by the common name alpine sheep sorrel. It is native to western North America from southwestern Canada to California to Colorado, where it grows in moist areas in mountainous habitat, up to areas of alpine climate. Rumex gracilescens is a variant endemic to Turkey. It was on the IUCN Species Survival Commissions 1997 Red List of Threatened Plants.
Notes
There are about 200 Rumex species.
Names & Synonyms
References (6)
- Anderson, M. K., 2012, Edible Seeds and Grains of California Tribes and the Klamath Tribe of Oregon in the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Museum of Anthropology Collections, University of California, Berkeley. USDA p 15
- Beckstrom-Sternberg, Stephen M., and James A. Duke. "The Foodplant Database." http://probe.nalusda.gov:8300/cgi-bin/browse/foodplantdb.(ACEDB version 4.0 - data version July 1994)
- Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 768
- Moerman, D. F., 2010, Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press. p 498
- Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
- Turner, N., et al, 2011, "Up on the Mountain": Ethnobotanical Important of Montane Sites in Pacific Coastal North America. Journal of Ethnobiology 31(1): 4-43
