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Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-304
Yellow Dock
Rumex crispus
Yellow Dock's taproot is one of the standard blood-and-liver remedies of Western herbalism, and unlike most dynamic accumulators claimed for shallow-rooted plants, this one genuinely has the deep root to back the claim. Grazing animals normally leave it alone since it is unpalatable, and the real poisoning risk comes from bad management - spraying it with herbicide without pulling stock off the pasture makes the wilted, dying plant suddenly appealing at exactly the wrong moment. It also seeds itself into any wet, seasonally flooded ground - ditches, pond margins, swale bottoms - and needs mowing before seed set to keep it in check, and its seed is specifically toxic to poultry.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 4–8
- Soil
- Sand · Silt · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Moist · Wet
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 6–7.5
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1.3–3.3 ft
- Mature spread
- 12 in
- Plant spacing
- 12–18 in
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
Adzuki Bean
Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H.Ohashi
Adzuki is the odd one out among the beans in this group: a very hot summer is actively too hot for it, since heat above about 35C damages…
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Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
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Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa is a deep-rooted perennial legume grown worldwide as one of the richest forage crops available, its taproot running six metres or…
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Alsike Clover
Trifolium hybridum
Alsike Clover fixes nitrogen in wet, acid ground too cold and heavy for red clover to thrive in, and its flowers keep bees working all season…
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Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
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Angelica
Angelica archangelica
Angelica is a very large, short-lived umbellifer grown for its candied stem and aromatic root - the thick young stalks are peeled and boiled…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–7
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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