POLYGONACEJE. (BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.) 393 
weed in cultivated and waste grounds: introduced. June, July._ 
Stem 3°-4° high, from a deep spindle-shaped yellow root. 
- 7. R. coilglomeratus, Murray. (Smaller Green Dock.) 
Leaves oblong, pointed, slightly wavy-margined, the lower heart-shap¬ 
ed at the base ; whorls distant, leafy ; pedicels very short; valves lin¬ 
ear-oblong, rather broadest next the base; obtuse, entire, each bearing 
a single (reddish) grain. (R. acutus, Smith, &c.) Moist places, spar¬ 
ingly introduced. July. — Resembles the green variety of the next. 
Fruit and leaves smaller. 
8. R. sanguineus, L. (Bloody-veined Dock.) Leaves 
lanceolate, wavy-margined, the lowest heart-shaped at the base ; 
whorls distant, in long and slender leafless interrupted spikes ; pedicels 
very short; valves narrowly oblong, broadest above their middle, obtuse, 
entire, one at least grain-bearing ; — veins of the leaf red, or in var. 
viridis, green. — Waste and cultivated grounds, sparingly introduc¬ 
ed. June. 
9. R. maritimus, L. (Golden Dock.) Low, smooth or 
minutely pubescent, diffusely branched ; leaves linear-lanceolate, very 
wavy; the lower abrupt or often auriculate-dilated at the base; 
whorls excessively crowded in leafy and compact or interrupted spikes; 
valves rhombic-oblong, lance-pointed, each bearing 2—3 long awn-like 
bristles on each side , and a large grain on the back. (Also R. persi- 
carioldes, L.) — Sea-shore, Block Island to Nantucket, Robbins, Oakes. 
Aug. — Plant 6' -12' high ; remarkable for the crowded, almost or¬ 
ange-colored flowers, beset with bristles which are usually longer 
than the width of the valves. 
§2 Acetosella, Tourn. — Flowers dioecious: styles adherent to the 
angles of the ovary : herbage acid. 
10. R. Acetosella, L. (Field or Sheep Sorrel.) Low; 
leaves lanceolate-halbert-form, at least those of the root, the narrow 
lobes entire ; whorls leafless, in slender panicled racemes; valves 
scarcely enlarging in fruit, ovate, not grain-bearing. — An abundant 
weed in sterile and worn fields. May. — The fertile panicles usu¬ 
ally turn reddish in summer. 
Rheum Rhap<5nticum is the Pie Rhubarb, so commonly cultivat¬ 
ed for the sake of its fleshy and acid esculent leaf-stalks. 
Order 87. EAURACEiE. (Laurel or Bay Family.) 
Aromatic trees or shrubs , with alternate simple leaves 
mostly marked with minute pellucid dots, and flowers with a 
regular calyx of 4-6 colored sepals, which are barely unit¬ 
ed at the base, imbricated in 2 rows in the bud, free from 
