POLYGONACEAE 369 



Pedicels together with the peduncles shorter than the wings. 

 Sepal-wings longer than broad, 4-5 mm. broad. 



Sepal-wings blunt, with stout nerves : achenes acuminate. 6. R. Langtoim. 



Sepal-wings acutish, with slight nerves : achenes acute. 7. It. altissimus. 



Sepal-wings broader than long, 1-1.2 mm. broad. 8. R. spiralis. 



Leaves strongly crisped, the lower ones mostly large and broad, usually 



dark green. 



Lower leaves narrowed at the base. 9. R. hymenosepalus. 



Lower leaves truncate or cordate at the base. 



Stout plants, usually with dense contracted panicles in fruit. 10. R. crispus. 



Slender plants, with loose spreading panicles in fruit. 



Each wing bearing a callosity : inflorescence leafy, at least the 



Branches of the panicle naked : sepal- wings triangular. 11. R. Berlandieri. 



Branches of the panicles leafy : sepal-wings oblong, fiddle- 

 shaped. 12. R. conglomeratus. 

 One wing only bearing a callosity : inflorescence not leafy. 13. R. sanguineus. 

 Sepal-wings armed with spine-like teeth. 



Tall plants : lower leaves cordate or truncate. 



Sepal-wings armed with 5-10 teeth, two bearing callosities. 14. R. pulcher. 



Sepal-wings armed with 3-5 teeth, one bearing a callosity. 15. R. obtusifolius. 



Low plants : lower leaves abruptly or gradually narrowed at the base. 



Pedicels abruptly enlarged near the calyx. 16. R. persicarioides. 



Pedicels dilated above, the margins revolute. 17. R. bncephalophorus. 



1. Rumex Acetosella L. Perennial, slender, glabrous. Stems erect or nearly so, 

 1-6 dm. tall, one or several from a woody creeping or horizontal rootstock : leaf-blades 

 hastate, 2.5-15 cm. long, obtuse or acute, usually broadest above the middle, with two en- 

 tire or 1-2-toothed auricles at the base, papillose, petioled, the uppermost merely linear : 

 ocreae silvery, soon lacerate : flowers dioecious, in more or less whorled clusters : calyx 

 green, 1 mm. long : pedicels slender : stamens 6, exserted : achenes ovoid, 3-angled, 1.5 

 mm. long, granular, exceeding the presistent calyx, whose sepals are unchanged in fruit, 

 the angles not margined. 



In dry and rocky soil, throughout North America, except the extreme northern part. Spring to 

 fall. SHEEP or FIELD SORREL. 



2. Rumex hastatulus Baldw. Perennial, glabrous, rather strict. Stems 1.5-6 dm. 

 tall, one or several from a woody base, erect, simple or branched : leaf-blades hastate, ob- 

 long or oblanceolate, 2.5-13 cm. long, more or less strongly auricled at the base, acutish, 

 petioled, or those of the cauline leaves linear, all papillose : ocreae silvery, at length 

 lacerate : flowers dioecious in whorled clusters : calyx 1 mm. long, green, winged in 

 fruit : sepal-wings reniform, 4 mm. long : pedicels as long as the wings or longer : 

 achenes broadly oblong, 3-angled, 1.5 mm. long, reddish, smooth and shining, invested 

 by the sepal-wings, the angles margined. 



On the coast or in sandy soil, southern New York to Florida, and on the plains, Kansas to Texas. 

 Spring. 



3. Rumex fascicularis Small. Perennial by a small cluster of fusiform roots, of a 

 dull and olive-green color. Stem lax and weak, 5-12 dm. long, decumbent, abruptly thick- 

 ened at the base and slightly so at the nodes : leaf-blades mostly oblong, a few occasionally 

 oblong-ovate or ovate, 8-15 cm. long, of much the same size throughout, about twice as 

 long as broad, mostly truncate or cordate at the base, drying thin : ocreae fugacious : 

 panicles 1-2 dm. long, rather dense in fruit, the branches ascending : pedicels slender, 

 narrowly clavate, deflexed in fruit, winged at the summit, longer than the sepal-wings, and 

 much longer than the peduncles: sepal- wings broadly deltoid, 4. 5-5. 5 mm. long, undulate, 

 strongly-nerved, each bearing a callosity : achenes pyramidal-ovoid, 3 mm. long, the 

 angles slightly margined. 



About pools, peninsular Florida. Summe'r. 



4. Rumex verticillatus L. Perennial, rather bright green. Stem 9-15 dm. long, erect, 

 ascending or somewhat decumbent, simple or nearly so, more or less flexuous when old : 

 leaf -blades narrowly oblong, oblong-lanceolate or lanceolate, 5-30 cm. long, acute or ob- 

 tusish, more or less acuminate at the base, slightly papillose : panicle open, the branches 

 rather erect, or spreading in fruit, the rather dense whorls separated below : pedicels 

 stout, club-shaped, much longer than the very short peduncles : sepal-wings broadly deltoid, 

 4 mm. long, more or less decurrent on the pedicel, -]- as long as the pedicels and pe- 

 duncles, each bearing a narrowly-ovoid callosity : achenes broadly ovoid, 3-3.5 mm. long. 



In swamps, Quebec to Iowa, Florida and Texas. Spring and summer. 



5. Rumex salicifolius Weinm. Perennial, pale green. Stem 3-9 dm. tall, erect or 

 decumbent, flexuous : leaf-blades narrowly lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 3-20 cm. long, 

 or the lower ones sometimes oblong, acute or acuminate at both ends, or rarely obtuse : 

 panicle open or dense, the branches erect or divergent, sometimes reflexed, the very 

 dense whorls separated only below : pedicels much longer than the peduncles : sepal-wings 



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