Seeding plant. Photo: Don Wood, south coast, NSW

Fruiting bodies. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: RG and FJ Richardson, Bannockburn, Vic

Common Name

Curled Dock

Family

Polygonaceae

Notes

Introduced perennial forb to 1.5m tall.  Leaves basal and alternating up the stems, with a sheath at the base.  Basal leaves 3-60cm long, 10-100mm wide, stem leaves smaller.  Leaves flat, hairless, with wavy edges and pointed tips.  Flowers greenish to reddish, with 6 'petals', in whorls of 5-16 flowers along the leafless stems, forming a long dense panicle at the top of the stem.

Description and photo (pages 234-235) and line drawing of fruiting body (Fig. 43c page 235) in GM Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales

PlantNET description:   http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Rumex~crispus

Weeds of Australia Biosecurity Queensland Edition description:  http://keyserver.lucidcentral.org/weeds/data/03030800-0b07-490a-8d04-0605030c0f01/media/Html/Rumex_crispus.htm