leaves linear-lanceolate, 5 to 7 times as long as broad; cauline leaves narrowly 

 linear-lanceolate, 6 to 9 times as long as broad; fruiting pedicels straight, con- 

 spicuously turned downward, (2) 2.5 to 5 times as long as the valves; valves at 

 maturity 4-5 mm. long, 2.5^ mm. broad, each dorsomedially with a pronounced 

 grain. 



Infrequent in low ground, often wet meadows, in water of ponds, swamps, 

 marshes, and along edge of streams, in s.e. Okla. (McCurtain Co.), e. and s.e. 

 Tex. and N. M. (Sandoval Co.), spring; s.e. Can. and e. U.S., w. to Mo., Ark., 

 Okla., N.M. and Tex. 



4. Rumex spiralis Small. 



Perennial herb from creeping rootstocks; stems erect, usually purplish, to 1 m. 

 tall; leaves of lower part of stem ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 10-15 cm. long, 

 35-55 mm. broad, 2.5 to 5 times as long as broad; pedicels (2-) 3-5 mm. long, 

 even in fruit shorter than the valves; valves 7-8 mm. long, 8-12 mm. broad, 

 somewhat cordate, each dorsomedially with a pronounced grain. 



Local in poorly drained or seasonally moist calcareous clay soil, and on edge 

 of lakes and ponds, in Tex. Rio Grande Plains, spring; endemic. 



5. Rumex altissimus Wood. Pale dock. 



Perennial herb; stems erect or basally procumbent to 8 dm. tall; leaves of 

 lower part of stem broadly ovate-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 12-18 cm. long, 

 40-55 mm. broad, 2.5 to 4 times as long as broad; leaves of upper part of stem 

 smaller; inflorescences rather crowded; valves 4.5-6 mm. long, 3-4 (-5) mm. 

 broad, each with or without a dorsomedial grain or 1 with and 2 without; achene 

 about 3 mm. long and 2 mm. broad. R. ellipticus Greene. 



Frequent in wet places such as marshes, shallow water of ponds, in wet 

 meadows, wet sandy alkaline soils, along streams, rivers and ditches, in Okla. 

 (Beaver, Johnston, Garvin, Cimarron, Payne and Cleveland cos.), in e. and n.-cen. 

 Tex., the Plains Country and parts of Edwards Plateau, N. M. (De Baca, Grant, 

 Chaves, Guadalupe and Taos cos.) and Ariz. (Coconino and Cochise cos.), spring- 

 summer; most of U.S. except Pac. States. 



6. Rumex calif omicus Rech. f. 



Perennial; stems many, finely sulcate-striate, ascending or suberect, 3-6 dm. 

 tall, with many leafy branches arising below the middle of the plant in the axils 

 of the leaves; leaves linear-lanceolate, the lower ones to 1 dm. long and 1.6 cm. 

 wide, the petiole about as long as the blade is wide; panicle large and open, the 

 simple branches arcuately diverging from the stem or sometimes appressed, the 

 lower glomerules remote, the upper ones nearly approximate or all of them 

 approximate, contiguous in fruit; flowers prefect; pedicels articulate in their lower 

 third or fourth; valves about 3 mm. long and 2.5 mm. wide, broadly triangular, 

 acute, membranous, dark, irregularly and shallowly denticulate toward base, 

 prominently reticulate-nerved with conspicuous midvein, without callous grains; 

 achene dark-brown to black, about 2 mm. long and 1.3 mm. wide. (?) R. utahensis 

 Rech. f. 



In mt. meadows and wet seepy soil along streams, in N. M. (DeBaca Co.) and 

 Ariz. (Coconino, Pima and Yavapai cos.), summer-fall; also Calif. 



7. Rumex chrysocarpus Moris. Amamastla. 



Perennial herb from creeping rootstocks; stems erect or basally procumbent, 

 usually only 4-6 dm. tall, often reddish; leaves linear-lanceolate to oblong-linear, 

 5-12 cm. long, 3.5 to 5 times as long as broad, drying a rather dark olive-green; 

 inflorescence usually interrupted, never leafy; valves dark-reddish-brown, tough 



801 



