Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Unani
Bladder dock (Rumex vesicarius), of the Polygonaceae family. Succulent annual herb with inflated winged fruits; native range: North Africa, western and southern Asia; a sour pot-herb of arid ground. Globally recognized as chukrika, chukra in Sanskrit, chuka in Hindi, hummaz (حمّاض) in Arabic, and bladder dock, wild sorrel, ruby dock in English. The part used is leaves and seeds. Fleshy, keenly sour-acid leaves on reddish stems.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
BLADDER DOCK
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Bladder dock
- Scientific name
- Rumex vesicarius L.
- Family
- Polygonaceae
Form
- Part used
- leaves and seeds
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- sour (amla)
- Unani
- sour (hamaz)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
- Unani
- cold & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- stomach · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- deepana (appetiser), pachana (digestive) and bhedana (laxative); the sour leaf to kindle appetite and move a costive bowel, the seed for dysentery
- Unani
- musakkin-e-safra (sedative of bile), muballid (refrigerant) and musakkin-e-atash (thirst-allayer); the cooling leaf for bilious fever, nausea and jaundice
Cautions
- Contraindications
- high oxalate — avoid in gout, urinary stone and hyperacidity
- Toxicity
- excess irritates the gut and may burden the kidney through its oxalates
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