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MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



2. Rumex. L. Dock 



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

 ally whorled, panicled racemes ; petioles partly sheatHng 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 back; 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. 



Rumex 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, i 

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



A B 



Fig. 199. Two weeds of the stnartweed family. A. Sourdock (Rumex crispus), B. 



Sheep sorrel (Rumex Acetosella). Both have been suspeeted. They contain a great deal 

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



