586 POLYGONACE RUMEX 
tufted, about a foot high: leaves spatulate to lanceolate, or the shortest 
somewhat elliptical-ovate, very gradually narrowed at base, neither auricl- 
ed nor hastate, 2-6 inches long: inflorescence rather simple. with suberect 
branches: pedicels about as long as the fruit, jointed toward the base, in- 
ner segment of the calyx about 2 lines in diameter, achenes about a line 
long. In mountain parks, Brit. Columbia to California and the Rocky 
Mountains. 
R. acetosa L. Sp. 337. Stems simple, mostly solitary, 1-4 feet high, 
rather slender: leaves ovate or oblong-ovate 2-6 inches long, mostly obtuse, 
deeply cordate with commonly acute auricles or subsagittate, a small tooth 
sometimes present on each auricle: inflorescence a rather simple strict 
panicie: pedicels about as long as the fruit conspicuously jointed in the 
middle: outer sepals of pistillate relatively large, reflexed in flower orbicu- 
lar, 2-3 lines in diameter clawless usually with a delicate callosity at base: 
achene about 3lines long. In open places in woods, Alaska to Oregon and 
across the continent. 
§ 2 LapatHa Campd. |. c. Leaves never hastate, with or 
without acid juice. Inflorescence with stouter, sometimes leafy 
branches: hermaphrodite or andro-monoecious. Inner sepals 
commonly reticulated, hecoming round or elongated and much 
larger than the achene. 
* Sepals at most very minutely erose or low denticulate. 
+ Inner sepals very large, mostly red, round or broadly ovate deep- 
ly cordate, without callosities, outer sepals at length reflexed. 
R. venosus Pursh Fl. 733. Glabrous throughout: stems stout, 8-18 
inches high from long running perenninal roots, branching from most of 
the axils: leaves thick and somewhat coriaceous, elliptical to nearly ovate. 
abruptly acute at both ends, 2-6 inches long: inflorescence nearly simple, 
leafless, the short zigzag branches divergent: pedicels rather stout about 
as long as the fruit tumidly jointed below the middle: inner sepals firm, 
bright rosy-red, orbicular or broader than long, 8-12 lines in diameter, the 
sinuses often closed, emarginate to shortly blunt acuminate : achenes about 
4 lines long, On sandy plains east of the Cascade Mountains, Brit. Colum- 
bia to Nevada and Kansas. 
++ Inner sepals not over 6 lines long,only moderately if at 
all cordate. 
++ Inner sepals round or very broadly ovate, low reticulate pedi- 
cels slender or capillary. 
R. occidentalis Watson Proc. Am. Acad. xii, 253. Glabrous: stems 
stout, 1-3 feet high, from thick perennial roots: leaves ovate to lanceolate, 6- 
12 inches long wavy-margined,truncately cordate, the apex roundedto acute, 
with acid juice: inflorescence strict and dense, rosy-red in fruit, naked 
or with a few small leaves below pedicels 2-3 times as long as the fruit, yery 
obscurely jointed below the middle: inner sepals at length rosy-red, 3-5 
lines long, deltoid-ovate, often only slightly cordate, remotely erose or den- 
ticulate, rounded or obtuse at the apex, without callosities: achenes 2 lines 
long. In wet or moist alluvial soil, California to Alaska and Colorado. 
R. confinis Greene™Pitt. iv, 306. Stems stout, often 6-8 feet high: 
blade of the lowest leaves often 14 feet long, commonly 6 inches wide to- 
ward the deeply subhastate-cordate base, lanceolate, on petioles nearly as 
long as the blade: panicle ample, 1 -2 feet long: pedicels slender, 3-6 lines 
long, jointed well above the base: valves suborbicular, with subtruncate 
base, green and of thin texture, the margins more or less crenate or den- 
tate toward the base. In wet madows, in the lake region of northern Idaho. 
