16 
The difference between flower and fruit is barely distinguishable when 
seen from a little distance so long as the fruit is immature, both being 
green, but later in the season, as the fruit ripens, the spikes take on a 
rusty-brown golor. (Fig. 7.) 
Yellow-rooted Water Dock. 
Rumex britannica L. 
Habitat and range.—As the common name indicates, this plant fre- 
quents swampy and wet places and banks of streams. It is found from 
Canada to New Jersey and 
Pennsylvania, and west- 
ward to Minnesota, IIli- 
nois, and Jowa. 
Description.—The _yel- 
low-rooted water dock is a 
taller plant than either of 
the docks previously men- 
tioned, itsstout stem some- 
times reaching a height of 
6 feet. The leaves at the 
base of the plant are borne 
on long stalks, and are 
from 1 to 2 feet in length, 
but, as with the other two 
species, the leaves toward 
the top of the plant are 
shorter, as are also the 
stalks supporting them. 
The densely flowered clus- 
d ters are not as leafy as in 
the preceding species men- 
tioned. The plant flowers 
Fic. 8.—Yellow dock root. from J uly to August. 
Dock Roots. 
The root, which is the part to be collected for medicinal purposes, 
is very similar in all of these species of dock (figs. 7 and 8), usually 
from 8 to 12 inches long, fleshy, often somewhat branched, the out- 
side dark reddish-brown with a rather thick bark, internally yellowish. 
It possesses but a very faint odor and a bitter, astringent taste. The 
roots should be collected in late summer or autumn after the fruiting 
tops have ripened, then washed, split lengthwise into halves or quar- 
ters, and carefully dried. : 
188 
