[ex-cavator]

Still working to clear the two plots I took on with my son at Christmas, got some raised beds going on one, the other is harder work, having not been cultivated for longer and plenty of clay to work at. But I keep finding plants that I don't know the identity of, and so not sure whether to save or not.
One I've been skirting round for a while now, looks fundamentally like a large clump of dock, but it's larger & taller than the few docks on the plot, the leaf stalks are unbranched & come straight from the ground & there's no redness in the stalk, unlike dock, the leaves being a 'crisper' green and having small serrations around the edge. One clump is about 2ft across.
If nobody can advise on this description, I'll bag a piccy next time I'm over.
Thanks in anticipation .... 

[RichardA]

are leaves hairy -- like comfrey ?? Has a purple flower. If so then it is worth keeping
R

[Ampthilldon]

Difficult to tell without a picture...could be Horseradish though. If it is you should be able to tell by pulling off a stalk and you should be able to get that distinctive horseradish smell. If it's been planted in the ground previously and hasn't been dug up for its root for a while it can get quite big and difficult to remove.

[trimmy g]

hello there, well I am no expert but it sounds exactly like the leaves from horseradish - the serrated edges are quite distinctive and they are uniform green unlike dock leaves.   If it is horseradish then there will be a big old clump of the stuff underground nearby.  We've been digging it up for weeks now - the leaves have only been around for about three weeks though.   The roots are very thick, large and deep down.

[ex-cavator]

Thanks, peeps - I've g00gled horseradish & you may be right - I'll check the root next time I'm over.

RichardA - I've got a few clumps of comfrey as well, plus I wandered down the road to the canal a few days back and there's absolutely LOADS of it growing on the verge - I'll have to read up on the best way to use it, but I think it's good as a fertiliser? 

[viettaclark]

There's a long article on this site which tells you all you need to know......

[mumofstig]

comfrey info?

here