Common Names
Curly dock, bitter dock, curled dock, dock, garden patience, narrow dock, sour dock, yellow dock.

Description
A perennial that grows to 5 feet in height. Leaves are 6 to 12 inches long, linear, and curly-edged. Produces yellow to green flowers in panicles, and dense spikes of winged triangular seeds.

Flowering Period
April to August.

Range
n. Africa, temperate Asia, Europe & Pakistan

Habitat
Pastures, fields, and waste lands.

Harvest
Roots, in late summer and fall.

Habit
Perennial

Family
Buckwheat

Uses
The roots of this plant are reportedly valuable as an astringent and mild laxative. In Appalachia, the root is placed in vinegar and the wash is used to treat ringworm; the leaves are used in a poultice to treat hives. The Indians used the root for a yellow dye.

Yellow Dock has a mild laxative effect. Also improves bile flow which, in turn, enables the bile ducts to remove more waste products.