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MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



2. Runiex. L. Dock 



Coarse herbs, with small, mostly green flowers, wh'oh are crowded on gener- 

 ally whorled, panicled racemes ; petioles partly sheatl'ng at base ; 6 sepals ; 3 

 outer herbaceous, sometimes united at base, spreading n fruit ; 3 inner larger, 

 slightly colored, enlarged after flowering and convergent on 3-angled achene, 

 veined, often bearing a grain-like tubercle on the bacV; stamens 6; styles 3; 

 stigmas tufted; embryo lying along one side of the albumen, slender, and 

 slightly curved. 



It has been claimed by some that the seeds of P. Acetosella poison horses 

 and sheep. 



Kunicx altissimus Wood. Pale Dock. 



A tall perennial from 2-6 feet high, glabrous with ere^t stem, simple or 

 branched above; leaves ovate or oblong; lanceolate, long, acute pale green, 

 veins obscure; racemes spike-like or somewhat interrupted below, spreading 



A B 



FiK. 199. Two weeds of the smarlwccrt family. A. Souidock (Rumcx crispus). B. 



Sheep sorrel (liiiiiicx Acetosella). Roth have been suspected. They contain a great deal 

 of oxalate of lime. (U. S. Dcpt. of Agr.) 



