PEESICARIA TRIBE 107 



2. Dock and Sorrel (Eumex). 

 * Plants not add ; flmcers perfect {except R. alpinus). 



1. Great Water Dock {11. hijclroldpathum). — 'Enlarged sepals egg- 

 shaped, triangular, entire, each Avith a tubercle on the midrib ; leaves broadly 

 lanceolate, acute, tapering below ; foot-stalks flat, but not margined above ; 

 perennial. This is the largest of all our numerous species of Dock, being 

 commonly three, and sometimes even five, feet in height. It is a ha ndsome plant; 

 its large leaves frequently serve the artist as an embellishment to his picture ; 

 and it would, when luxuriant, attract the notice even of the least observant, 

 the leaves being often more than a foot long. The plant is very common on 

 river banks and in ditches, and has several stems which, in Jul}' and August, 

 bear numerous almost leafless whorls of green flowers, the enlarged sepals 

 having prominent veins and large tubercles. Its root is large and very 

 astringent, and a decoction is made from it, and used for washing the mouth. 



2. Curled Dock {E. crispiis). — Enlarged sepals broadly heart-shaped, 

 entire, or having small roiuid notches, one only with a perfect, large, coloured 

 tubercle ; leaves lanceolate, waved, acute ; upper whorls leafless ; perennial. 

 This is one of the several species of Dock which grow in waste places, in 

 fields, by roadsides, and especially near dwellings. The stem is two or three 

 feet high, and the wavy leaves are narrowed at the lower part, and crisped 

 at the edges. Its whorls are very numerous and crowded, and the tubercle 

 is oi'ange-coloured. Mr. Babington observes, that in some cases all the sepals 

 are tubercled. Of the root, which is spindle-shaped and yellow, a decoction 

 is sometimes made ; or its juice, made into an ointment, is applied b}^ country 

 people in the cure of cutaneous aftections. 



3. Meadow Dock {li. p)mt<^nsis). — Enlarged sepals, unequal, heart- 

 shaped, dilated and toothed at the base ; leaves oblong, lanceolate, waved ; 

 clusters nearly leafless, whorls distinct ; perennial. Many botanists describe 

 this species as having one of the enlarged sepals principally tuberculated ; 

 but Mr. Babington observes that sometimes all three are equally tubercled. 

 This plant grows in marshy places, and by roadsides. It bears, in June and 

 July, numerous leafless whorls near to each other, but not crowded. It is 

 the R. acutus of Linnaeus ; some botanists regard it as a hybrid between 

 R. crispus and R. ohtusifolius. 



4. Grainless Water Dock {R. aqudtkus). — Enlarged sepals broadly 

 heart-shaped, membranaceous, entire, or wavy, without tubercles ; leaves 

 lanceolate, lower ones somewhat heart-shaped, crisped and waved ; leafstalks 

 flat and margined above ; whorls crowded, mostly leafless ; perennial. This 

 species, which is the R. domesticus of some Avriters, is a tall Dock, having its 

 stems three or four feet high. It flowers in July and August, its crowded 

 whorls forming a dense panicle of reddish flowers. It is not uncommon in 

 the north of England and Scotland on moist lands, especially such as are 

 occasionally inundated. 



5. Alpine or Monk's Rhubarb (//. cdpinus). — Enlarged sepals broadly 

 heart-shaped, entire, or waved, membranaceous, without tubercles ; leaves 

 roundish, heart-shaped, blunt, with chaimelled footstalks ; upper leaves egg- 

 shaped ; whorls leafless, crowded ; perennial. This is not a common, nor is 



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