POLYGONACEAE (BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 91 



Range: Newfoundland to Ontario, southward to Pennsylvania, 



Ohio, and Kansas. 

 Habitat : Rich soil ; farmyards, waste places, roadsides. 



A very large species, with a stout and very deep taproot. Stem 

 sometimes attaining to eight or ten feet in height but usually 

 two to six feet tall, stout, erect, grooved, 

 and smooth, simple or sparingly branched. 

 The large basal leaves are sometimes 

 more than two feet in length, oblong 

 lance-shaped, broadening above the base, 

 smooth but with thick ribs and veins 

 and long petioles ; stem leaves long- 

 pointed and much smaller. Panicle very 

 large and dense, sometimes nearly two 

 feet in length, its branches nearly 

 erect, often with leafy bracts among 

 the whorled flowers. These are small 

 and green with six sepals, six stamens 

 and three styles, the calyx differing 

 from that of the following species in 

 that only one of the three enlarged, 

 heart-shaped, veiny inner sepals or 

 valves has a small tubercle on its back, 

 or sometimes merely a thickening of 

 the base of its midrib. Pedicels slen- 

 der with a swollen joint near the base. 

 Fruit an achene, sharply three-angled, 

 about one-eighth of an inch long, smooth, 

 shining, light brown. (Fig. 52.) 



Controlled, like the Curled Dock, by 

 deep cutting or grubbing or by hand- p IG . 52 . _ Patience Dock 

 pulli ng when the ground is sufficiently soft. (Rumex Patientia) . X&. 



NARROW-LEAVED DOCK 

 Rumex crispus, L. 



Other English names: Yellow Dock, Curled Dock. 

 Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

 Time of bloom: June to September. 



