What Plant Is Wild Spinach Exactly? A Complete Guide
Wild spinach, also known as sorrel, curly dock, and dock root, is an annual herbaceous plant of the genus Rumex in the Polygonaceae family. It can be found in most grasslands of Europe and West Asia. Its tender stems and leaves taste sour and can be eaten raw or served as a cold salad. It is rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, and oxalic acid, and has a tangy taste, so it is often used as a seasoning in cooking. As a medicine, it has the effects of cooling the blood, detoxifying, and killing parasites, and is mainly used for pulmonary tuberculosis with hemoptysis, hemorrhoid bleeding, carbuncles and swollen toxins, scabies, and itchy skin.
The root of wild spinach is fibrous. The stem is erect, 40-100 cm tall, with deep grooves, and is usually unbranched. The leaves are lanceolate or narrowly elongated, 8-14 cm long and 1-2.6 cm wide, tapering at both ends, with entire margins and petioles. The basal leaves and lower stem leaves are arrow-shaped, 3-12 cm long and 2-4 cm wide, with acute or rounded-obtuse tips and acute basal lobes, with entire or slightly wavy margins. The petioles are 2-10 cm long. The upper stem leaves are smaller, with short petioles or sessile. The ocrea is membranous and easily ruptured. The inflorescence is a narrow panicle, terminal, with sparse branching.
The flower clusters of wild spinach are axillary, spaced or dense on conical spike-like inflorescences. The spikes bear leaves and grow at the upper ends of the branches. The flowers are unisexual, dioecious, and green. The pedicel has a joint at the base. The tepals are oblong-ovate, with conspicuous fine reticulate veins, each bearing an oblong-ovate tuberculate protrusion on the back, with narrow margins. Most have a long bristle at the center of each side, with the tip extending straight or curved, and some lack bristles, with even narrower margins. The achene is elliptical, with 3 sharp angles, pointed at both ends, about 2 mm long, dark brown, and glossy. It is enclosed in the persistent perianth. The flowering period is May to July, and the fruiting period is June to August.
Wild spinach is now cultivated as a vegetable and has relatively high nutritional value. Every 100 grams of tender wild spinach leaves contains 92 grams of water, 3.2 mg of carotene, 70 mg of vitamin C, 1.8 grams of protein, 0.7 grams of fat, 2 grams of carbohydrates, 440 mg of calcium, and 80 mg of phosphorus. However, because wild spinach contains acidic potassium oxalate and certain tartaric acids, poisoning sometimes occurs due to excessive oxalic acid content. There have been reports in the literature of deaths in children caused by eating wild spinach leaves.
The ancient name of wild spinach is Rumex, which means “to suck.” In ancient times, people sucked its leaves to quench their thirst during journeys, so the flower language of wild spinach is “considerate.” A person born under the blessing of this flower, if female, is sure to be full of maternal love, gentle, and understanding, just like the Virgin Mary. Of course, once in love, she also gives without regret, letting the other person feel deep affection.