RuMEx. POLYGONACEiE. 155 



2. RuMEx oBTUsiFOLius, Linu. Broad-leaved Dock. 



Stem roughish ; radical leaves cordate-ovate, obtuse ; inner sepals lanceolate-ovate, acutely 

 toothed near the base, one of them with a conspicuous tubercle. — Linn. sp. 1. p. 335 ; 

 Engl. hot. t. 1999 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 248 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 143 ; Torr. Jl.\. p. 379 ; 

 Beck, hot. p. 304 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 236. 



Root perennial, thick, brown externally, yellow inside. Stem 2-4 feet high, angular and 

 sulcate. Radical leaves often nearly a foot long and 4-6 inches wide, roughly pubescent 

 on the veins, thin, slightly waved on the margin. Calyx green, large when in fruit, acutely 

 denticulate toward the base, prominently reticulate-veined. 



Moist meadows, pastures, etc. ; frequent : introduced. June - July. 



3. RuMEx VERTiciLLATus, Linn. Long-Stalked Water Dock. 



Very smooth ; leaves lanceolate, flat, entire ; ochreae cylindrical, elongated ; spikes nearly 

 leafless ; pedicels 3-4 times as long as the fruit, difiracted ; inner sepals broadly cordate, 

 rugosely veined, entire, all of them tuberculose ; sides of the achenium broadly ovate-cordate. 

 — Linn. sp. 1. p. 334 ; Michx. fl. I. p. 217 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 248 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 379 ; 

 Beck, hot. p. 304. 



Root large, fusiform. Stem about two feet high, somewhat branching above. Leaves 

 5-8 inches long and ^ to 1^ inch wide, acute at each end, perfectly smooth on both sides ; 

 the petiole about an inch long. Spikes mostly dichotomous ; the semiwhorls or fascicles 

 rather distant, 10 — 30-flowered. Flowers perfect. Sepals at first nearly equal, oblong, 

 obtuse, finally nearly as broad as long ; the tubercle very prominent. Styles reflexed : stigmas 

 digitate-pencillate. Pedicels of the fruit f of an inch long, rather stout, bent abruptly down- 

 ward. Achenium broadly ovoid-triquetrous. Embryo slightly curved, applied lo the middle 

 of one of the sides of the albumen, and nearly enclosed in it. 



Swamps in the northern and western parts of the State. June - July. This species is 

 widely difi'used in the United States, extending from Canada to Florida, and throughout 

 Louisiana. It is quite distinct from R. salicifolius, Weinn. and Hook. 



4. RuMEX Britannica, Linn. Yellow-rooted Water Dock. 



Smooth ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, flat or slightly waved ; ochreae lacerated and often almost 

 wanting ; racemes in a large terminal panicle, elongated, nearly leafless ; semiwhorls many- 

 flowered, the pedicels capillary; outer sepals ovate, entire, all of them usually bearing a 

 small tubercle ; sides of the achenium elliptical. — Linn. sp. \.p. 334 ; Michx. fl. 1. p. 217; 

 Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 143 ; Torr. fl. \. p. 378 ; Beck, hot. p. 304. R. Britannicus, Pursh, 

 fl.l. p. 248 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 414. R. domesticus, Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 129 ? 



Root large, fusiform, dark externally, yellow inside. Stem 2-4 feet high, branching 

 above, stout, fistular. Lower leaves 8-12 inches long and 3-5 inches wide : upper ones 



20* 



