CXI. PHYTOLACCACE^E. 477 



4. R. VERTICILLATUS. Naked-spiked Dock. 



Lvs. oblong-lanceolate ; valves entire, all bearing granules ; spikes leafless, 

 with flowers in half- whorls. 7L Northern States. An aquatic species of muddy 

 situations. Stem 2f high, with long, tubular sheaths and few branches. Leaves 

 long, narrow, acute, flat. Whorls few-flowered. Pedicels 1' long. June. 



5. R. AQUATICUS. Great Water Dock. 



Lvs. lanceolate, acute, lower ones cordate, on long petioles ; valves ovate, 

 entire, all of them bearing granules. Tj. Northern U. S. Ponds and ditches. 

 Root large, very astringent. Stem 3 4f high. Leaves somewhat glaucous, 

 the lower ones distinctly cordate at base. Flowers verticillate, in a terminal, 

 leafy panicle. Pedicels nodding. 



6. R. ALTISSIMUS. Wood. (R. verticillata, Mead 7) Peach-leaved Dock. 

 Glabrous, tall, erect ; Ivs. linear-elliptic, entire, petiolate, tapering to each 



end ; roc. slender, paniculate, somewhat secund, leafless or the lowest verticil 

 axillary; fls. all $; inner sep. broad-cordate, one graniferous, one abortively 

 so, and the third naked. 7J. Marshy prairies and borders of streams, Indiana ! 

 A very showy Rumex, 3 6f high, slightly branched above. Leaves 3 5' by 

 i 1', somewhat acuminate, broadest in the middle. Verticils approximate, 

 pedicels 2 3" long. Achenium exactly resembling a beach-nut in form and 

 color. June. (Nov. sp.) 



* * Inner sepals toothed. 



7. R. ACUTUS. Dock. 



Lvs. oblong-cordate, acuminate ; whorls leafy ; valves oblong, subdentate, 

 all of them bearing granules. 1\. N. States. Ditches and waste places. Stem 

 2 3f high. Leaves large, the lower ones distinctly cordate, on long petioles. 

 Racemes paniculate, composed of dense, leafy, dimidiate verticils. Granules 

 large, red, one upon the back of each valve. May. 



8. P. PALLIDUS. Bw. White Dock. 



Lvs.- linear-lanceolate, acute; spikes slender; valves ovate, entire, hardly 

 larger than the granule. 7J_ Found in salt marshes, Ms. Stems numerous, 

 ascending. Leaves smooth, acute, petioled, wavy on the margin. Flowers 

 crowded, on short pedicels. Granule large, white, nearly covering the back of 

 each valve. June. 



9. R. MARITIMUS. Golden Dock. 



Lvs. linear, very long, entire, acute at each end ; fls. in leafy racemes ; 

 inner sepals dentate, all graniferous. Tj. " Borders of brackish ponds in Mar- 

 tha's Vineyard and Nantucket." Oakes. Plant a foot or more high. Flowers 

 yellowish-green, in crowded half-whorls on the branches and main stem above. 



10. R. OBTUSIFOLIUS. Broad-leaved Dock. 



St. roughish ; radical Ivs. ovate, obtuse ; valves toothed, one of them prin- 

 cipally bearing a granule on the back. 1\. N. States. A weed as troublesome 

 as the first, growing about houses and fields wherever it is least welcome. Stem 

 2 3f high, furrowed, branching, leafy. Leaves oblong, cordate, obtuse, cre- 

 nate-wavy ; upper ones narrower and more acute ; root leaves very large, 

 oblong, heart-shaped, often with stalk and veins red. Flowers in long, nearly 

 naked racemes. July. 



2. ACETOSA. Flowers tf 9- Inner sepals without granules. 



11. R. ACETOSELLA. Field Sorrel. Sheep Sorrel. 



Lvs. lanceolate-hastate ; fls. 9 cf Q A common weed, growing in pas- 

 tures and waste grounds throughout the U. S., preferring dry, hard soils. Stem 

 I If high, leafy. Leaves halbert-shaped, very acid, but pleasant to the taste. 

 Flowering all summer. Flowers small, red or reddish, collected in panicled 

 racemes, the valves destitute of granules. " The stamens and styles are on sepa- 

 rate plants. 



ORDER CXI. PHYTOLACCACE^E. PHYTOLACCADS. 



Herbs or under shrubs, with alternate, exstipulate leaves. 



Fls. racemose, perfect. Sepals 45, petaloid. 



Sta. 45 and alternate with the sepals, or indefinite. 



Ova. l several-celled. Styles and stiftrxa eqtial in number to the cells. 



