104 A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 



Leaves 1-4 in. long, tapering to a point towards the tip, 

 usually arrow shaped at the base, often reddish. Flowers 

 small, in erect loose clusters, greenish-white. In dry "sour" 

 fields nearly throughout North America, although a native 

 of Europe. May-September. Fig. 300. There are several rel- 

 atives, mostly difficult to identify, or very rare. Other species 

 of Rumex in this book are Nos. 262, 263, and 302. 



301. Buckwheat. Fagopyrum Fagopyrum. {Fagopyrum 

 esculentum.) A perfectly smooth herb from 1-23^ ft. high, 

 often a little weak, but never prostrate. Leaves broadly arrow- 

 head-shaped, but, unlike the preceding almost perfectly tri- 

 angular in outline. Flowers white, in short rather compact 

 clusters, but these not finger-shaped as in Nos. 297 or 298. 

 Sometimes the flower clusters droop a little, especially in 

 fruit. The triangular, winged fruit is the buckwheat of com- 

 merce. Occasional as a waif after cultivation, not usually 

 persistent, but often locally common. Native of eastern 

 Europe or adjacent regions of Asia. August. 



302. Common Dock. Riuncx crispus. An erect somewhat 

 slender perennial i>4-3 ft. high, with a grooved stem. Leaves 

 oblong, or lance-oblong, the margins wavy and somewhat 

 crisped, but without real teeth. Flowers green in a much- 

 branched cluster, the final aggregations of flowers on small 

 drooping stalks, all arising at the same place. An Old World 

 plant now spreading throughout North America, and one of 



