34B HEXANDRIA. TRIGYNIA. Rumexv 



1 



outer with a large red grain; the rest with a small grain* 



HlXDS. 



In the Bot. arr. ed. ii. this was suspected to be a var. of the 

 R. crispus, but if it be not distinct, I now rather, suppose it to 

 be R. acutus, grown to a more than ordinary size. The valves 

 are entire, all of them beaded, but in its younger flowering state, 

 the bead appears only upon one or two of them. They have not 

 the strongly veined texture of the R. crispus. • In the smallness 

 of the flowers, the distance of the whirls, and the position of the 

 floral-leaves, it agrees with the R. acutus. The summits are fan- 

 shaped and beautifully fringed, as they are iri. several of the 

 species. 



Marsh Dock. Marshes and banks of rivers. [Near Tarn- 

 worth.] P. Aug. 





* • 





_ _ mm ■ 



Hydrola'- R. Leaves spear-shaped, smooth, acute, very entire, taper- 

 pathum. ing at the base. a ( 



I 



\ 



I 



Munt. brit. \-Munt. phyt. 202-Pet. 2. 1-Ger. 311. 1-J.B. ii. 1. 



Veins of the leaves very strong, and nearly perpendicular to. 

 the mid-rib. Root white within, black without. Stem. 5 or 6 

 feet high, furrowed. Leaves even at the base, a little toothed 

 and waved at the edge ; the lower ones to 18 inches long. Leaf* 

 stalks semi-cylindrical, those of the lower leaves sometimes 1 5 

 inches long. Fruit-stalks encompassed a little below the middle 

 with an indistinct ring, in half whirls. Whirls from alternate 

 sides of the stem and branches, surrounded by a skinny sheath. 

 Calyx I leaf, with J divisions ; segments spear-shaped, somewhat 

 concave. Valves very slightly toothed, especially towards the 

 base; teeth becoming more and more evident as the seed ripens: 

 beads greenish white or purplish. Summits flat, fringed. 



This differs from the R. aquaticus of Linn, which is charac- 

 terized as having valves without beads, and the leaves heart- 

 shaped at the base. Notwithstanding this, the Synonyms are 

 the same to both, and I suspect they may be the same plants, for 

 in our Hydrolapathum the beads are not very obvious in its 

 flowering state, though becoming large and conspicuous as the 

 seed ripens. The leaf heart-shaped at the base is well repre- 

 sented in Blackw. 4t>0, but the upper leaves and flowers agree 

 with our R. Hydrolapathum. 



Water Dock. Peat marshes, wet ditches, pools, and sides of 

 rivers', growing generally in the water where it is shallow, and 

 seldom but in the water. Ray. [About Clifton, Worcestersh. 

 Mr. Bam ard. St.— Tamworth, at the foot of Bowbridge, on 

 the Coventry road.] P. July, Aug " 



It is a medicine of considerable efficacy, both externally applied as 



a wash for putrid spongy gums, and internally in some species of scurvy* 



k la 



