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Rumex hymenosepalus

Common name:	Canaigre	Family:	Polygonaceae
Author:	Torr.	Botanical references:	71, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	Plants can contain quite high levels of oxalic acid, which is what gives the leaves of many members of this genus an acid-lemon flavour. Perfectly alright in small quantities, the leaves should not be eaten in large amounts since the oxalic acid can lock-up other nutrients in the food, especially calcium, thus causing mineral deficiencies. The oxalic acid content will be reduced if the plant is cooked. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity should take especial caution if including this plant in their diet since it can aggravate their condition[238].
Range:	South-western N. America.
Habitat:	Dry sandy places below 1500 metres in California[71].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	R. hymenosepalus var. euhymenosepalus[B,P] R. hymenosepalus var. salinus[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Ca& ntilde aigre [S], Canaigre [E], Canaigre Dock [P], Canaigria, Red Dock [S], Canegeira [E], Dock, Red [S], Pie Plant [S], Red Dock [S], Sand Dock [B],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Polygonales. Buckwheat family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Mexico Us Us(Az) Us(Hopi) Us(Papago)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1m. . It is in flower from May to July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Drink Leaves Root Seed Stem.

Young leaves - cooked as a pot-herb[2, 46, 61, 105, 161]. They are usually cooked in several changes of water to remove the bitter-tasting tannin[183].
Leaf stems - cooked[95, 105, 161]. Crisp and tart, they are excellent when used in pies like rhubarb[2, 183]. They are often cooked with sugar, or can be baked and the central portion eaten[257].
The stems, harvested before the flowers open, have been boiled to make a drink[257].
Seed - raw or cooked[257]. It can be ground into a powder, cooked with water to the consistency of a thick gravy and eaten as a mush[183, 257]. The powder can also be mixed with water, shaped into cakes and baked[257].
Root[105, 161]. Eaten raw by children in early spring[257].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Astringent Poultice Salve.

An infusion of the stems and leaves has been used as a wash for sores, ant bites and infected cuts[257].
The roots are astringent[257]. An infusion has been used in the treatment of diarrhoea[257]. An infusion has been used as a gargle to treat coughs and sore mouths and throats[257]. The root has been chewed in the treatment of coughs and colds[257]. The dried, powdered roots have been used as a dusting powder and dressing on burns and sores[257].
A tea made from this plant is used to treat colds[213, 257].

Other Uses

Dye Tannin.

The roots are rich in tannin, the dried root containing about 35 - 60%[46, 61, 171]. Wild roots contain more tannin than cultivated roots whilst old roots contain more than young roots[223]. Yellow, dark green to brown and dark grey dyes can be obtained from the roots of this plant[46, 61, 168]. They do not need a mordant[168].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in most soils but prefers a deep fertile moderately heavy soil that is humus-rich, moisture-retentive but well-drained and a position in full-sun or part shade[200]. Judging by its native range, this plant should succeed in dry soils[K].
Extensively cultivated for the tannin contained in its root[171].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in situ.
Division in spring.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] SW USA Dist. Maps from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for rumex hymenosepalus (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

References for the family Polygonaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[71] Munz. A California Flora. University of California Press 1959
An excellent flora but no pictures. Not for the casual reader.

[95] Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications 1976 ISBN 0-486-23310-3
Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[168] Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. 1974 ISBN 0-02-544950-8
A very good and readable book on dyeing.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[223] Rottsieper. E.H.W. Vegetable Tannins The Forestal Land, Timber and Railways Co. Ltd. 1946
A fairly detailed treatise on the major sources of vegetable tannins.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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