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.