Editing Rumex (section)

==Uses==

These plants have many uses. Broad-leaved dock (''[[Rumex obtusifolius]]'') used to be called butter dock because its large leaves were used to wrap and conserve [[butter]].

''[[Rumex hymenosepalus]]'' has been cultivated in the Southwestern US as a source of [[tannin]] (roots contain up to 25%), for use in leather tanning, while leaves and stems are used for a [[mordant]]-free mustard-colored [[dye]].

These plants are edible. The leaves of most species contain [[oxalic acid]] and tannin, and many have [[astringent]] and slightly [[purgative]] qualities. Some species with particularly high levels of oxalic acid are called sorrels (including sheep's sorrel ''[[Rumex acetosella]]'', common sorrel ''[[Rumex acetosa]]'', and French sorrel ''[[Rumex scutatus]]''), and some of these are grown as [[leaf vegetable]]s or garden [[herb]]s for their acidic taste.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/sorcom64.html |title=Sorrel, Garden or Common [''Rumex acetosa''] |website=Botanical.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | journal = Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | year = 2008 | volume = 4 | issue = 1 | doi = 10.1186/1746-4269-4-4 |pmc=2275233 | title = Archival data on wild food plants used in Poland in 1948 | first = Łukasz | last = Łuczaj | page = 4 | pmid = 18218132 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

In the United Kingdom, ''[[Rumex obtusifolius]]'' is often found growing near [[Urtica dioica|stinging nettles]], owing to both species favouring a similar environment, and there is a widely held belief that the underside of the dock leaf, squeezed to extract a little juice, can be rubbed on the skin to counteract the itching caused by brushing against a nettle plant.<ref>{{cite web |work=Ethnomedica |url=http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ethnomedica/reports/dock.html |title=Recorded uses of' dock (''Rumex'' sp.) |access-date=2008-04-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120040109/http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ethnomedica/reports/dock.html |archive-date=2008-11-20}} {{verify source |date=September 2019}}</ref> This [[home remedy]] is not supported by any science, although it is possible that the act of rubbing may act as a distracting [[counterstimulation]], or that belief in the dock's effect may provide a [[placebo effect]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hopcroft |first1=Keith |title=Home remedies: dock leaves for nettle stings |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/home-remedies-dock-leaves-for-nettle-stings-gk075bw6b3c |access-date=29 August 2020 |date=10 September 2005 |language=en}}</ref>

In traditional Austrian medicine, ''R.&nbsp;alpinus ''leaves and roots have been used internally for treatment of viral infections.<ref>{{cite journal |display-authors=4 | last1 = Vogl | first1 = S | last2 = Picker | first2 = P | last3 = Mihaly-Bison | first3 = J | last4 = Fakhrudin | first4 = N | last5 = Atanasov | first5 = AG | last6 = Heiss | first6 = EH | last7 = Wawrosch | first7 = C | last8 = Reznicek | first8 = G | last9 = Dirsch | first9 = VM | last10 = Saukel | first10 = J | last11 = Kopp | first11 = B | year = 2013 | title = Ethnopharmacological in vitro studieson Austria's folk medicine-An unexplored lore in vitro anti-inflammatory activities of 71 Austrian traditional herbal drugs | journal = J Ethnopharmacol | volume = 149 | issue = 3| pages = 750–71 | doi = 10.1016/j.jep.2013.06.007 | pmid = 23770053 | pmc=3791396}}</ref>

[[Rumex nepalensis|''Rumex nepalensis'']] is also has a variety of medicinal uses in the Greater Himalayas, including [[Sikkim]] in Northeastern [[India]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=O'Neill |first1=Alexander R. |last2=Badola |first2=Hemant K. |last3=Dhyani |first3=Pitamber P. |last4=Rana |first4=Santosh K. |date=29 March 2017 |title=Integrating ethnobiological knowledge into biodiversity conservation in the Eastern Himalayas |url= |journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine |volume=13 |issue=21 |page=21 |doi=10.1186/s13002-017-0148-9 |pmc=5372287 |pmid=28356115 |doi-access=free }}</ref>