Rumex californicus

California dock

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California dock is a native perennial found in California's mountains and coastal regions in moist places at elevations below 3,500 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces small greenish-brown flowers in dense whorled clusters along branching stems. Growing with ascending stems 30 to 60 centimeters tall and often developing axillary shoots, it spreads with a vertical taproot. Its leaves are distinctive, measuring 5 to 10 centimeters long and 1 to 3 centimeters wide, with a linear to lance-oblanceolate shape, entire margins, and acute or tapered tips. The fruit is small, about 2 millimeters long, developing in shades of brown to dark red-brown.

Habitat: Moist places

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: < 3500 m

Bioregions: CA (esp mtns, coast)

California counties: San Diego, Riverside, Tulare, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Tuolumne, Mono, El Dorado, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Alameda, Butte, Fresno, Glenn, Inyo, Lake, Plumas, Alpine, Amador, Kern, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Napa, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Sonoma, Ventura, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Modoc, Monterey, Nevada, Stanislaus, Orange

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.