Wild Dock and Grinding Holes

Do I talk about dock every late winter and early spring? It sure seems like I do. Well, it's truly the first green plant one sees as winter ends and maybe that’s why I get so excited about it. Green! There are 15 species of Rumex found in Arizona, some of which are introduced exotic species. Rumex hymenospepalus is found all over the state below 6,000 feet and it emerges in late winter and is blooming by early spring. Rumex is the Latin word for docks or sorrels. If you grow sorrel in your herb garden then you have a Rumex species and as near as I can figure the only difference between docks and sorrels is that sorrels are smaller. Hmm, that's not a botanical description. We love finding grinding holes in rocks when out traipsing in the wild. One of our favorite destinations when we lived in Tucson was the Coyote Mountains west of town. There was spot in one of the canyons where we found grinding holes and it became a family and friends gathering place. “Let’s meet at grinding hole rock.” You can find grinding holes in rocks all over southern Arizona and they are such a wonderful reminder of the people that lived here centuries before you and me. I love to stand by them taking in the view and imagining the lives of people who were once there and no doubt taking in the view. The photos are mine of the wild dock and that’s Ms Mesquitey with our dog Burley. I can’t remember the grinding hole count in that boulder covered kitchen…17 or 18? The snake she exclaimed about was a blacktailed rattlesnake skedaddling as they like to do.