370 POLYGONACEAE 



triangular-ovate, 3 mm. long, undulate or subdentate, slightly shorter than most of the 

 pedicels and peduncles, each bearing a large ovoid callosity : achenes ovoid or oblong- 

 ovoid, 2-2.5 mm. long, the angles slightly margined. 



In swamps, Labrador and British Columbia to Florida and Lower California. Also in Europe 

 Spring to fall. 



6. Rumex Langloisii Small. Perennial, somewhat scurfy, dark green. Stem erect 

 or ascending, 5-7 dm. tall, simple or with a few nearly erect branches, more or less 

 flexuous : leaf-blades oblong or linear-oblong, 3-12 cm. long, acuminate or acutish, erose- 

 crenulate, slightly crisped, rather prominently nerved, especially beneath : panicle 

 usually dense at maturity : pedicels about 5 mm. long, much longer than the very short 

 peduncles, each enlarged toward the apex : sepal-wings leathery, deltoid, 4 mm. long, 

 blunt, the surface prominently nerved, each bearing a papillose callosity, which is 1 mm. 

 broad and 3 mm. long : achenes ovoid, nearly 3 mm. long, each abruptly contracted into 

 a very short base, slightly acuminate at the apex, the angles slightly paler than the 

 faces, margined. 



In low grounds, southern Louisiana. Summer. 



7. Rumex altissimus Wood. Perennial, pale green. Stem 6-12 dm. tall, erect, 

 simple or sparingly branched above : leaf-blades lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate or ovate- 

 lanceolate, or sometimes oblanceolate, 5-25 cm. long, acute at the apex, thickish, acute or 

 acuminate at the base : panicle rather open, the branches somewhat spreading or erect, 

 the rather dense whorls only slightly separated in fruit : pedicels slender, much longer 

 than the very short peduncles : sepal-wings triangular-cordate, 4-5 mm. long, about as 

 long as the pedicels, usually only one producing a large ovoid callosity : achenes ovoid, 

 3 mm. long. 



In river bottoms, Massachusetts to Iowa, the District of Columbia and Texas. Spring and early 

 summer. 



8. Rumex spiralis Small. Perennial, light green, somewhat glaucescent. Stem 

 erect, 8-9 dm. tall, simple or sparingly branched above, slightly flexuous : leaf-blades 

 lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 6-13 cm. long, acute or sometimes attenuate* at the apex, 

 the lower ones obtuse or truncate at the base, the upper acute or acuminate at the base, 

 coriaceous, neither prominently nor conspicuously nerved : panicle nearly naked, the 

 mature branches 5-12 cm. long, rather erect, the terminal one usually about twice as long 

 as the lateral ones, with dense, barely interrupted whorls : pedicels together with the 

 peduncles varying from 2-4 mm. in length, the joint below the middle : sepal-wings 

 broadly ovate-cordate, broader than high, 1 cm. long, 1-1.2 cm. broad, straw-colored, 

 sometimes slightly constricted below the apex, prominently nerved, crenulate and undulate, 

 each one bearing an oblong-ovoid callosity and strongly spirally twisted : achenes broadly 

 oblong-ovoid, 3 mm. long, short-pointed, the angles conspicuously margined. 



On the margins of ponds, Texas. Spring. 



9. Rumex hymenos6palus Torr. Perennial by a cluster of fusiform roots, light 



freen, glaucescent. Stem erect, 3-9 dm. tall, simple or nearly so, often red, somewhat 

 eshy : leaf -blades fleshy, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 5-25 cm. long, varying from 

 gradually acuminate to acute, undulate and somewhat crisped, the lower ones attenuate into 

 thick petioles, the upper sessile : panicle somewhat leafy-bracted, dense in fruit, the 

 branches erect, 5-20 cm. long : pedicels about as long as the peduncles : sepal-wings ovate- 

 cordate, 1 cm. long, acutish, obtuse or emarginate at the apex, about as long as the pedicels, 

 none bearing callosities : achenes ovoid, 5-5.3 mm. long, the angles more or less margined. 

 On dry plains, the Indian Territory to Texas, California, and Lower California. Summer. 



10. Rumex crispus L. Perennial, dark green. Stem 3-9 dm. tall, erect, simple or 

 sparingly branched above : lower leaves with oblong or oblong-lanceolate, long-petioled 

 blades, 1.5-3 dm. long; upper leaves with mostly narrowly-oblong or lanceolate short- 

 petioled blades, 8-16 cm. long ; all acute or obtuse, cordate or obtuse at the base, more or 

 less papillose : panicle rather dense ; the branches with contiguous whorls in fruit by the 

 elongation of the pedicels and peduncles : pedicels much longer than the peduncles : sepal- 

 wings cordate, 3-4 mm. long, truncate or slightly notched at the base, erose-dentate, 

 about f as long as the pedicels, each bearing a callosity : achenes oblong-ovoid, 2 mm. long. 



Common throughout the United States and southern British America. Naturalized from Europe. 

 Native also of Asia. Summer. 



11. Rumex Berlandieri Meisn. Perennial, somewhat papillose, dark green. Stem 

 erect or ascending, 6-12 dm. tall, rather stout, somewhat flesjiy, simple or sparingly 

 branched, usually reddish, strict, or flexuous above : leaf blades oblanceolate or spatulate, 

 1-3 dm. long, obtuse or the upper ones sometimes acute, flat or sometimes crisped : panicle 

 leafy-bracted, the branches nearly naked, ascending or erect, 3-20 cm. long, the dense 



