Rumex occidentalis

Western dock

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Western dock is a California native perennial found in northern coastal, Klamath Ranges, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, central Coast Ranges, Great Basin, and deltaic Great Valley regions in wet habitats at elevations below 2,500 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces small greenish-red flowers in dense terminal clusters with intricate branching. Growing with stout erect stems 50 to 250 centimeters tall that are generally unbranched, it develops a substantial vertical taproot. Its large leaves are leathery, 10 to 35 centimeters long and 5 to 12 centimeters wide, with lanceolate to ovate-triangular blades featuring entire or slightly wavy margins. The fruit is a distinctive red-brown structure 3 to 4.5 millimeters long that develops from the plant's dense flower whorls.

Habitat: Uncommon. Wet habitats

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: < 2500 m

Bioregions: NCo, KR, CaRH, SNH, deltaic GV, CCo, GB

California counties: Marin, Amador, El Dorado, Sacramento, Mono, Modoc, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Mendocino, San Mateo, Siskiyou, Contra Costa, Del Norte, San Francisco, Plumas, Solano, Sonoma, Lassen, Alameda, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Shasta, Napa, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Yolo, Butte, San Bernardino

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