50 POLYGONACEAE 



often panicled racemes. Calyx 6-parted, the 3 outer sepals unchanged in fruit, the 3 inner 

 ones (wings) often bearing a grain-like callosity on the back, larger and enclosing the 

 3-angled achene. Stamens 6 ; filaments short. Styles 3 ; stigmas peltate, tufted. Achene 

 3-angled. [The ancient Latin name.] 



About 140 species, of wide geographic distribution. Type species, Rumex Patientia L. 



Flowers perfect; leaves never hastate. (Lapathum.) 

 Valves 5-30 mm. long, without grains. 



Leaves not cordate at base; valves over 10 mm. long, with a deep narrow sinus at base. 



Valves broader than long; leaves flat. 1. R. venostts. 



Valves longer than broad; leaves undulate. 2. R. hymenosepalus. 



Leaves cordate at base; valves 5 mm. long, shallowly cordate, with a broad sinus. 



3. R. occidental™. 

 Valves 2-5 mm. long, at least one or more bearing a conspicuous grain-like callosity. 

 Margins of the valves entire or rarely inconspicuously erose (toothed in violascens). 

 Leaves more or less undulate and the margins often crisped. 



Fruiting valve broadly ovate-triangular, 3-4 mm. wide; fruiting racemes appearing continuous 



except at base. 4. R. crispus. 



Fruiting valves oblong-ovate, 2 mm. or less in width, more or less fiddle-shaped; fruiting 

 racemes well interrupted. 

 Valves entire; grains not crenate-margined. 5. R. conglomerates. 



Valves toothed toward the base; grains crenate-margined. 6. R. violascens. 



Leaves flat, not at all undulate or crisped, mostly narrow and willow-like. 7. R. salicifolius. 



Margins of the valves with conspicuous awns or bristles. 



Perennial, glabrous; teeth of the valves spinose or awl-like. 



Branches of the panicle divaricate; pedicels stout, shorter than the thick undurated valves. 



8. R. pulcher. 



Branches of the panicle ascending; pedicels slender, longer than the thin herbaceous valves. 



9. R. obtusifolius. 



Annual, short-pubescent; teeth of the valves composed of a few conspicuous bristles. 



10. R. persicarioides. 

 Flowers dioecious; valves small, without grain-like callosities. (Acetosa.) 



Leaves tapering at base, never hastate; valves surpassing the achene. 11. R. paucifolius. 



Leaves hastate at base, at least some of them; valves shorter than the achene. 12. R. Acetosella. 



1. Rumex venosus Pursh. Veined or Winged Dock. Fig. 1430. 



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



Perennial herb from a woody rootstock, glabrous and rather pallid, the stems stout, erect, 

 15-45 cm. high, simple or few-branched, somewhat flexuous. Leaves ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 

 3-10 cm. long, acute or acuminate at apex, narrowed to the petiole at base, rather firm-coria- 

 ceous ; racemes one to several, erect, and more or less interrupted; pedicels elongated; valves 

 reddish, becoming 15-30 mm. broad, orbicular, deeply cordate, with a deep narrow sinus, veiny 

 and reddish; pedicels nearly as long as the wings, jointed near the middle; achenes 5 mm. long, 

 smooth and shining, the sides concave, the angles margined. 



Dry stream beds, usually in sandy soil, Upper Sonoran and Arid Transition Zones; eastern Washington 

 southward through eastern Oregon to northeastern California, and eastward to Saskatchewan and Missouri. 

 Type locality: "in upper Louisiana." Sour Greens, Wild Begonia. April-June. 



2. Rumex hymenosepalus Torr. Canaigre. Fig. 1431. 



Rumex hymenosepalus Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 177. 1849. 



Perennial arising from a cluster of rather large whitish tuberous roots, glabrous and usually 

 pallid-green, the stems stout, leafy, simple or branched, 4-6 dm. high. Leaves oblong to broadly 

 lanceolate, 6-30 cm. long, strongly undulate, acute at apex, narrowed at base to a short thick 

 fleshy petiole; racemes panicled, about 10-30 cm. long ; pedicels 6-12 mm. long; valves 8-12 mm. 

 broad, deeply cordate, strongly reticulate-veined, without grains, rose-colored; achene smooth 

 and shining, sharply angled, 4 mm. long. 



Dry sandy plains and washes, Upper and Lower Sonoran Zones; Kern and San Luis Obispo Counties, Cali- 

 fornia, to Lower California, New Mexico, and western Texas. Type locality: "Sandy soils, from El Paso to the 

 canyons of the Rio Grande." Wild Rhubarb. Dec-May. 



3. Rumex occidentalis S. Wats. Western Dock. Fig. 1432. 



Rumex occidentalis S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 12: 253. 1876. 

 Rumex procerus Greene, Pittonia 4: 305. 1901. 

 Rumex fenestratus Greene, Pittonia 4: 306. 1901. 

 Rumex confinis Greene, loc. cit. 



Perennial from a stout taproot, glabrous, the stem stout, erect, 6-20 dm. high, simple or 

 sparingly branched, deeply grooved. Leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, somewhat crisped 

 on the margin, the lower 1-4 dm. long, obtuse or acutish at apex, cordate or subcordate at base, 

 long-petioled, the upper reduced, lanceolate, narrowed at base; racemes erect, forming rather a 

 strict dense panicle 3-6 dm. long, the lower leafy; pedicels 5-15 mm. long, obscurely jointed 

 below the middle; valves triangular-ovate, 5-8 mm. long, shallowly cordate at base, somewhat 

 denticulate, prominently reticulate-veined, without grains; achene 4 mm. long, short-pointed, 

 chestnut brown, smooth and shining. 



Bogs and marshes, often in brackish places, mainly Boreal and Transition Zones; Alaska to Labrador, south 

 in the Pacific States to San Francisco Bay, Klamath Lake, and adjacent northeastern California, eastward to 

 Colorado, Minnesota, and Maine. Type locality: only the general range given. June-Oct. 



