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MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



2. Rumex. L. Dock 



Coarse herbs, with small, mostly green flowers, wlvoh are crowded on gener- 

 ally whorled, panicled racemes ; petioles partly sheatHng at base ; 6 sepals ; 3 

 outer herbaceous, sometimes united at base, spreading n fruit ; 3 inner larger, 

 slightly colored, enlarged after flowering and convergent on 3-angled achene, 

 veined, often bearing a grain-like tubercle on the back; stamens 6; styles 3; 

 stigmas tufted; embryo lying along one side of the albumen, slender, and 

 slightly curved. 



It has been claimed by some that the seeds of /*. Acetosella poison horses 

 and sheep. 



Rumex altissimus Wood. Pale Dock 



A tall perennial from 2-6 feet high, glabrous with ere^t stem, simple or 

 branched above; leaves ovate or oblong; lanceolate, long, acute* pale green, 

 veins obscure; racemes spike-like or somewhat interrupted below, spreading 



A B 



Fig. 199. Two weeds of the smart weed family. A. Sourdock {Rumex crispus). 



B. 



Sheep sorrel (Rumex Acetosella). Both have been suspected. They contain a great deal 

 of oxalate of liine. (U. S. Dept. of Agr.) 



