BUCKWHEAT FAMILY. Polygonaceas. 



BUCKWHEAT FAMILY. Polygonacem. 



Herbs with alternate toothless leaves and swollen- 

 jointed stems, usually a stipule or leaflet above each 

 joint, and small, generally perfect flowers (or sometimes 

 dioecious, monoecious, or polygamous ones) without 

 petals, the calyx 2-6 parted. 



„ . _ The docks are mostly uninteresting 



Patience Dock , , , , ^ ., f 



Rumex northern weeds that cumber fertile ground, 



Patientia and decorate waste places ; many of them 



Green like the patience dock come from the old 



May-June country. This species has smooth broad 



lance-shaped leaves, broadest just above the base, and 



the flowers are green, tiny, inconspicuous and drooping, 



replaced by seed-wings or heart-shaped discs, resembling 



miniature palm-leaf fans. 2-5 feet high. Vt. , N. Y., 



and Pa., west to Wis. and Kan. 



Dark green smooth leaves, the lowest 



qqj,^ very long, a branching, stout stem, and 



Rumex densely flowering, circling clusters ; the 



Britannica tiny flowers nodding, replaced by seed- 



Gfeen wings similar to those of the preceding 



species. 3-6 feet high. In wet situations. 



Me., Pa., west to Minn., Iowa, and Neb. 



A smooth deep green species, similar to 

 Swamp Dock ^, , -^i i ^ i i 



Rumex *"® above, with a grooved stem, and long- 



verticillatus stemmed lance-shaped leaves. Flowers in 

 Green dense circles, the outline of the seed- wing 



May- July top-shaped. 2-5 feet high. Swamps. 



Common from Me., south, and west to Iowa. 

 Curled Dock T^^^is is the very common curled leaf 



Rumex crispus dock throughout the U. S. , a troublesome 

 Green weed from the old country. Leaves wavy 



June-August ^^^ ^^lq margin, flowers replaced by heart- 

 shaped pointed seed-wings 1-4 feet high. 



