THERE is a reddish glow in the fields. Sorrel and docks are growing tall among the grass, and they all have long spires of rusty-brown seeds. Sorrel, which is also a member of the dock family, is the reddest of them. It has smaller seeds and narrower leaves than the others. The two commonest dock plants are broad-leaved (or broad) dock and curled dock. Both have densely crowded seedheads, and the seeds themselves are like little nuts.
The largest leaves are those of the broad-leaved dock: they are rather moist and are commonly used to rub on nettle stings to ease the pain. Curled dock can be distinguished by the distinctly wavy edges to its leaves.
Although the dock family is not much regarded, it is a major feature of our countryside and adds a lot of colour to it.
Flocks of greenfinches and linnets come down to feed on the sorrel, and on other weed-like plants of farmland, such as fat hen. Yellowhammers, reed buntings and skylarks also depend on the seeds of wild flowers in the winter. The widespread assault on these plants with herbicides is one of the main reasons for the decline in numbers of farmland birds.
DJM