Welcome to Mountain Edibles

I have been wandering the mountains of Utah as an amateur botanist for many years, and I am now trying to share some of what I have learned with those around me. I am a user of many edible and medicinal plants, and I believe the edible plants are the least known area of my expertise. This blog is a way to increase the popular knowledge of edible plants.

I also do plant walks to teach about edible and medicinal plants in person. If you are in the Northern Utah area, and are interested in arranging such a presentation, you can contact me using the contact form at the bottom of the page.

Thank you for coming.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Rumex obtusifolius

Rumex obtusifolius
Rumex obtusifolius
Since I had success with other docks, I also sampled this dock to see if it lived up to its common name, Bitter Dock. It does, but the name does not adequately describe why you should not eat this plant. Yes, even the young leaves and shoots are somewhat bitter, but even worse than the bitterness is the taste. Instead of the fresh lemony taste of curly dock, this dock tastes more like rotten lemons!

In my area I usually find this plant by small mountain streams. It can be recognized as a dock by the way the leaves develop, but this dock has oblong leaves, and dark red veins in the leaves, a sign of bitterness in docks.

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