g POLYGOXACE^. Rumex. 



what colored, usually becoming enlarged and reticulated (valves) in fruit, appressed 

 to the shorter 3-angled akene. Stamens 6 ; filaments very short. Styles 3 ; stig- 

 mas tufted. Embryo lateral, slender, slightly curved. — Coarse perennial herbs 

 (sometimes shrubs or trees in the tropics), rarely biennial or annual, with more or 

 less acid juice; stems leafy, with scarious obliquely truncate cylindrical naked 

 sheaths; flowers small, fascicled or verticillate in paniculate racemes. 



A fenus of 125 species, widely distributed around the globe, several naturalized everywhere as 

 troublesome weeds, a lew rarely cultivated as pot-herbs. The roots of our species are mostly 

 thick and fusiform, with astringent and alterative qualities. The specific characters are largely 

 drawn from the fruit. 



§ 1. Flmoers perfect or polygamous ; valves enlarged, often bearing a grain-like 

 callosity on the back : leaves never hastate, pin7iateiy many-veined, rarely 

 very acid. — Lapathum, Meisner ; the Docks. 



* Valves irholly without grains, mostly very large (3 lines long or more), entire or 

 drnfiriiliitc : pedicels long, jointed near the base : glabrous jjerennials. 



1. R. venosus, Pursh. Stems erect, a foot high or less, from running root- 

 stocks, stout and leafy, with conspicuous dilated stipules : leaves on short but 

 rather slender petioles, ovate or oblong to lanceolate, 3 to 6 inches long, acute or 

 acuminate, only the lowest obtuse or somewhat cordate at base, the margin rarely 

 undulate : panicle nearly sessile, short, dense in fruit : fruiting pedicels 4 to 9 lines 

 long: valves entire, cordate-orbicular with a deep sinus, 9 to 12 lines in diameter, 

 acutish or emarginate, bright rose-color : akene 3 lines long. — Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. 

 ii. 130, t. 174. 



From British Columbia to the Saskatchewan and southward to Nevada and Colorado ; near 

 Carson City, Nevada, Anderson. In dry sandy valleys. 



2. R. h3mienosepalus, Torrey. Similar but taller and still stouter : leaves 

 attenuate tu a short very tliick and fleshy petiole, narrowly oblong or lanceolate, a 

 foot long or less, acute, undulate : pedicels 3 to 6 lines long : fruit smaller, 4 to 6 

 lines in diameter: akene 2 lines long. — Bot. INIex. Bound. 177. 



In dry sandy places, near Nipoma (Breiver) and Suez River {Bolandcrk Kellogg), and also east- 

 ward in S. Utah and New Mexico. The height of the stem and the character of the root have 

 not been noted. Dr. Tany states that the young shoots are used in Utah as a substitute for the 

 garden rhubarb. 



3. R. occidentalis, Watson. Tall and rather slender, often 3 to 6 feet high : 

 leaves oblcjng-Iaueecjlate, the lowest sometimes ovate, usually narrowing gradually 

 upward from the truncate somewhat cordate base, not decurrent on the slender often 

 elongated petiole, acute, often a foot long or more, scarcely undulate : panicle nar- 

 row, elongated, nearly leafless : pedicels flliform, 3 to 6 lines long, obscurely jointed 

 near the base : valves broadly cordate, with a very shallow siiuis, becoming about 3 

 lines in diameter, often denticulate near the base: akene 1| lines long. — Proc. 

 Am. Acad. xii. 253. R. longifolius, of authors, not of DC. 



From Alaska to the Sacramento, and eastward to New Mexico, Colorado, the Saskatchewan and 

 Labrador; in wet jjlaces and along streams. It has been rarely collected in California, being 

 reported only from JU'Cumlier's in Shasta County, but is probably frequent in the northern part 

 of the State. Much rescnibling R. longifolius of the Old World. 



* --^ Valves smaller, one or more of them grain-bearing. 



-t- Valves entire or only denticulate : glabrous perennials. 



4. R. salicifolius, Weinmann. Slender, often low, 1 to 5 feet high, usually 

 branching and decumbent at base : leaves narrowly or linear-lanceolate, or the low- 

 est oblong, 3 to 6 inchas long or more, acuminate, attenuate into a short petiole, 



