Bronze Dock

(Maori dock; Runa) Rare Maori medicine from New Zealand! To the Maori people of New Zealand, this plant is known as runa and has long been used in traditional medicine. The juice squeezed from the leaves is applied to skin abrasions, wounds, and cuts. For boils and stubborn sores, the leaves are used as a poultice to "draw out poison". For sores, the leaves are first softened in an oven and then applied like a bandage. The Maori also use the roots to "purify" the blood and treat varicose veins. In the garden, this plant’s effect as an ornamental is otherworldly. It forms dense rosettes of copper-red lance-shaped leaves, and from the centre, a wiry-looking, zig-zagging inflorescence emerges. Ht. 50cm/20".