RUMEx. HEXANDRIA. TRIGYNTA. ~379 



M i c h. Fl. I. p. 21 7. B ig. Bost. p. G7. V/ a 1 1. Car. p. 

 126. R. britannicus Pursh F/. I. 248. Elliott Sk. 

 I . p. 414. RuMEX aquaticus, &c. Cold. jVoveb. 84. 



Hoot large, fusiform, dark coloured externally, yellow internally. 

 Stem 9. — 3 feet high, branched, angular and furrowed. Leaves 

 large, petiolate, acute ; stifiules lacerate and nearly obsolete. 

 Flowers in a large terminal panicle, polygamous ; fascicles 

 verticillate, at length pendulous. Valves cordate ; tliose of 

 the perfect flowers much larger. J\''ut acutely triquetrous. 



Hab. In overflowed swamps, and on the muddy borders of ponds. 



Yellow-rooted Water Dock. 

 A native species, which, according to Persoon, does not 

 inhabit Europe. It is said by C o Ide n to be the great secret 

 remedy of our Indians for phagsedenic ulcers. 



5. R. verticillatm L. : valves entire, all of them granifc- 

 ious ; racemes leafless; leaves lanceolate ; sheaths cylindri- 

 cal, [fi // f/. S/jec. 11. p. 250. Mich. Fi. I. 217. Pursh 

 F/. I. p. 248. Elliott Sk, \. p. A\3. Walt. Car. i^. 

 326. Lapathum aquaticum, (SiC. Gron. Virg. 39. 



Root large, fusiform. Stem about 2 feet high, a little branched, 

 ' Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, fiat ; sAearAs cylindrical, long, 

 membranaceous. Flowers semiverticillate; whorls few-flower- 

 ed. Pedicels half an inch or more in length, incrassated up- 

 wards. Valves cordate-oblong, very entire. JVut acutely tri- 

 quetrous. 

 Hab. In deep mud on the borders of rivers and ponds ; rare. 

 June. 



Resembles the preceding species. 



t t Valves toothed. 



6. R. acidus L. : valves oblong, somewhat toothed, all 

 of them graniferous ; leaves cordate-oblong, acuminate ; 

 wnorls leafj. Willd. Spec. H. p. 253. Smith FL Brit. 

 I. p. 391. Eng. Bot. 724 = 



Root fusiform. Stem 2—3 feet high, angular. Leaves large ; 

 the lower ones distinctly cordate, on long petioles. Racemes 

 branched. [F/ioWs semiverticillate, dense, leafy, ra/x-es ob- 

 long-lanceolate, minutely toothed, especially towards the base, 

 each bearing a large red grain. .Yut small, acutely triangular. 



Hab. In waste places and about ditches. May. Doubtless in- 

 troduced. 



7. R. ohiusifolbis L.: valves dentate ; one of them con- 

 spicuously graniferous; radical leaves ovate cordate, obtuse ; 

 stem somewhat scabrous. Willd. Spec. II. p. 254. S m i t k 

 Fl. Brit. 1. p. 392. Eng. Bot. t. 1 999. Pursh F/. L p. 

 248. Big. Bost, p. 86. 



