654 



POLYGONACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



2. Rumex hastatulus Muhl. Engel- 

 mann's Sorrel. Fig. 1598. 



Rumex hastatulus Muhl. Cat. Ed. 2, 37. 1818. 



R. Engelmanni Meisn. in DC. Prodr. 14: 64. 1856. 



Perennial from a woody base, glabrous, dioe- 

 cious ; stem rather strict, simple or branched, 

 erect, 5'-2o' tall. Leaves hastate, oblong or ob- 

 lanceolate, i'-s' long, the basal numerous, more 

 or less auricled at the base, subacute, petioled, 

 those of the stem linear, all papillose ; o^creae sil- 

 very, 2-parted, at length lacerate ; racemes as- 

 cending, at length interrupted ; calyx green, 

 slender-pedicelled, winged in fruit; pedicels 

 equalling or longer than the wings; wings orbic- 

 ular, mostly broader than high, cordate, ii"-i3" 

 long; stamens slightly exserted; achene reddish, 

 smooth, shining, less than i" long, invested by the 

 calyx-wings, its angles margined. 



On the sea-coast, Massachusetts to Florida and on 

 the plains from Illinois to Kansas and Texas, a geo- 

 graphic distribution nearly the same as that of Cheno- 

 podium Icptophyllum. March-Aug. 



3. Rumex Acetosa L. Green Sorrel. 

 Sour or Sharp Dock. Fig. 1599. 



Rumex Acetosa L. Sp. PI. 337. 1753. 



Perennial, glabrous, dioecious ; stem erect, sim- 

 ple, grooved, l-3 tall. Leaves oblong-hastate 

 or ovate-sagittate, i'-5' long, acute at the apex, 

 crisped or erose on the margins, the basal few, 

 long-petioled, the upper subsessile, the acute auri- 

 cles entire or i-toothed and more or less refiexed; 

 ocreae lacerate; racemes nearly erect, crowded, 

 at length interrupted ; calyx green, i" long, pedi- 

 celled, winged in fruit ; pedicels equalling or 

 shorter than the wings, jointed near the middle; 

 wings broadly ovate or orbicular, cordate, 2"-2i" 

 long; achene rather more than i" long, pointed, 

 smooth, shining, blackish, invested by the calyx- 

 wings. 



Labrador to Alaska. Naturalized from Europe in 

 Vermont, New York and Pennsylvania. Native also 

 of Asia. Summer. Sour-grass. Green sauce. Meadow, 

 English or cock-sorrel. Red shank. 



4. Rumex venosus Pursh. Veined or 

 Winged Dock. Fig. 1600. 



Rumex venosus Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 733. 1814. 



Perennial by a woody rootstock, glabrous; stem 

 rather stout, erect, somewhat flexuous, 6'-i$' tall, 

 grooved, branched. Leaves ovate, ovate-lanceolate 

 or oblong, i'-5' long, acute at both ends or acumi- 

 nate at the base, petioled, rather coriaceous ; ocreae 

 funnelform, thin, brittle; racemes mostly erect, soon 

 interrupted; calyx red, pedicelled, very conspicuously 

 winged in fruit; pedicels at maturity rather stout, 

 slightly shorter than the wings, jointed at about the 

 middle; wings large, i'-ii' broad, suborbicular with 

 a deep sinus at the base, veiny, reddish ; style- 

 branches divergent in fruit; achene 3" long, smooth, 

 shining, its faces concave, its angles margined. 



Saskatchewan to Oregon and Washington, south to 

 Missouri and Nevada. May-Aug. 



