Rumex sanguineus var. sangineus
Bloody Dock, Red-veined Wood Dock, Blood-veined Dock, Wood Dock
Polygonaceae
June to July
It is found scattered throughout the country.
See the BSBI distribution map for Red-veined Dock
It is a garden escape and grows in open woodland, hedgerows,
waste ground and roadsides.
It may be mutation of the native Wood Dock, R. sanguineus var viridis
which has been selected for in horticulture.
Red-veined Dock is a rhizomatous perennial herb, growing up to 1m.
Flowers are in well separated whorls and can be monoecious
or dioecious.
Individual flowers have 3 green tepals.
Male flowers have 3 stamens with white/yellow anthers.
Female flowers have 3 white stigmas.
In fruit, only one of the tepal segments has a fully
developed smooth, white or red, globular tubercle (wart).
Lower leaves are ovate-lanceolate and upper leaves are
narrowly lanceolate with deep beetroot-red veins.
It is similar to the much more common Wood Dock, R. sanguineum
var viridis, differing mainly in the colour of the veins of
the leaves
Stems are usually erect and straight.
Flowering stems are slightly branched.
New plants can arise from surface rhizomes in vegetative spread.
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Red-veined Dock, West Dorset
Spaced clusters of flowers - green tepals
Close-up of male flower with cream anthers and
female flower with white stigmas
Close-up of male flower with yellow anthers and
female flower with star-like stigmas
Cluster of white globose fruits (warts)
Cluster of red fruits
Whole plant showing rosettes of leaves and white fruits
Close-up of upper leaf surface
Close-up of lower leaf surface
Vegetative spread from surface rhizomes
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