BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 385 



ing above in a dense panicle 1,0 to 1 foot long; leaves oblong or tapering to 

 each end, slightly succulent, somewhat wavy-margined, Vn to 1 foot long; 

 sheathing stipules conspicuous; pedicels jointed near the middle, J/, to nearly 

 as long as the fruit ; inner sepals membranous and rosy in fi'uit, ovate, cordate 

 at base, naked, 4 to 6 lines long. 



Dry sandy washes and sandy plains from Kern Co. and Nipoma southward; 

 most abundant on the San Fernando and San Bernardino plains, thence east- 

 ward to Arizona and New ]\Iexico. Roots used in tanning leather. The 

 plants do not, however, do well in cultivation, irrigation decreasing the amount 

 of tannin. The leaf-stem is used as a substitute for rhubarb, whence the names 

 Wild Rhubarb, Wild Pie-plant and Sour Dock. 



Refs. — RuMEX HYMENOSEPALUS Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 177 (1859), tyjie loc. New Mexico; 

 Trel. Rep. Jlo. Bot. Gard. 3: 80, pi. 18 (1892) ; Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. ed. 2, 13.5 (1911). 



3. R. occidentalis Wats. Western Dock. Erect, glabrous, stout, and 

 nearly simple, 3 to 6 feet high ; leaves somewhat fleshy, oblong-ovate or ovate- 

 lanc'colate, truncate or cordate at base, 6 to 16 inches long, the petioles of 

 the basal leaves longer than the blade ; panicle strict, mostl.y very dense, 1 

 to 2 feet long, leatiess or with a few small leaves below, rosy in fruit; pedicels 

 3 to 6 lines long, the joint below the middle obscure; inner fruiting sepals 

 round-OA'ate, subcordate, naked, or rarely with a callous grain. 2 to 3 lines long. 



Marshes in the valleys and marshy spots in the hills : San Francisco Bay 

 region to Lassen Co. and Mt. Shasta. North to Alaska, east to Texas and 

 Labrador. Stems from a taproot, as also in nos. 4 to 8. 



Locs. — Berkeley, Dary 722; Collinsville, Jepson; Denverton, Jepson; Humboldt Bay, Tracy 

 3148; Sisson, Jepson; Honey Lake Valley, ace. Davy. 



Refs. — RuMEX OCCIDENTALIS Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 12: 253 (1877), type N. American; 

 Trel. Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 3: 81, pi. 19 (1892); .Tepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 156 (1901). B. 

 procerus Greene, Pitt. 4: 305 (1901), type loc. marshy spots in coast hills about San Francisco 

 Bay and Monterey. 



4. R. crispus L. Curly Dock. Stem stoutish, IY2 to 4 feet high; leaves 

 bluish-green, very wavy-margined, elliptical to oblong-lanceolate, 3 to 10 

 inches long, the petioles 1 or 2 inches long; flowering branches strict with few 

 leaves, the whorls dense, mostly crowded and red-brown in fruit ; pedicels 

 twice as long as the fruit, tumidly jointed near the base; inner fruiting sepals 

 broadl.y ovate, 2 to 2% lines long, all with smooth callous grains, rarely 1 or 

 2 naked. 



Very common weed in low and neglected lands in valleys and in the moun- 

 tains to middle altitudes. Naturalized from Europe. The half-fieshy root has 

 astringent and tonic properties. Blade more or less decurrent on the petiole, 

 as in R. eonglomeratus. 



Refs. — EUMEX CRISPUS L. Sp. PI. 335 (1753), type European; Trel. Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 

 3: 84, pi. 22 (1892); Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 157 (1901). 



5. R. berlandieri Jleisn. Mexican Dock. Stem rather stout and succu- 

 lent, simple, 1 to 2 feet high, from a deep taproot; herbage not glaucous, darker 

 green tlian in R. salicifolius ; leaves linear to spatulate or narrowly oblong, 3 

 to 4 inches long, petioled; panicles leafless except for the main axis, the whorls 

 dense, remote except above; pedicels prominently jointed below the middle; 

 inner fruiting sepals ovate-triangular, erose or with 2 to 4 minute teeth on 

 each side at base, II/2 to 2 lines long; callous grains mostly unequal, irregularly 

 toothed on each side next to the sepal. 



Colorado Desert. East to Texas and south into Mexico. 



Locs. — Holtville, Parish 8078; Mesquite Lake, Davy 8024. 



Refs. — RuMEX BERLANDIERI Meisn. in DC. Prodr. 14: 45 (1856), type specimens from 

 Tampico. Mex., by Berlandier, and elsewhere hv others; Trel. Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 3: 89, pi. 

 27 (1892) ; Tuomey, Ariz. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 22: 23, fig. 8 (1897). 



