42 FARM WEEDS OP CANADA 



CURLED DOCK {Rumex crispus L.). 



Other English names; Yellow Dock, Sour Dock. 



Introduced from Europe. Perennial, with a deep tap-root. 

 Stem 2 to 3 feet, smooth, erect, terminating in wandlike race- 

 mes. Root-leaves oblong-lance-shaped in outline with much 

 crested or waved margins, 6 to 12 inches long, on long stalks; 

 stem-leaves on short stalks and much smaller or absent towards 

 the top of the stems. Flowers small, in rather widely separated 

 clusters around the stems. Flower stalks with swollen joints. 

 The 3 inner divisions of the calyx enlarging as the seed ripens, 

 heart-shaped, with the margin only obscurely or not toothed, 

 all with seed-like tubercles on the outside. 



The seeds (Plate 72, fig. 7) are 1 /12 of an inch long, shaped 

 like a miniature beechnut, reddish brown, shining. They are 

 one of the commonest impurities in clover seeds. European 

 grown clover contains seeds of allied species. 



Time of flowering; June; seeds ripe by July. 



Propagation: By seeds. The clumps increase slowly by shoots 

 from the crown of the root of old plants. 



Occurrence: In fields and waste places. Naturalized from 

 Atlantic to Pacific, very abundant in southern and western 

 Ontario. 



Injury: A common weed in meadows, pastures and waste 

 places. It is a pest in new meadows and depreciates the value of 

 the fodder or the clover seed crop. The Docks harbour plant 

 lice. When young and tender the leaves are sometimes used 

 for pot herbs. 



Remedy: Sow clean seed. The prevalence of Dock in mead- 

 ows is due to sowing contaminated grass and clover seeds. 

 Land worked under a short rotation of crops is never badly in- 

 fested with Docks. When the soil is soft after continued rain, 

 they can be pulled from meadows and pastures. Pull or cut 

 and destroy all seed-bearing plants before harvesting a clover 



