Flora of the Paloase Region 61 



E. heracleoides Xutt. Loosely tufted, thinly tomentose throughout: 

 flowering stems erect, 20-40 cm. tall, with a single whorl of leaves halfway 

 up: leaves linear or oblanceolate, acute, 3-5 cm. long, attenuate at base into 

 a short petiole, paler and more pubescent beneath: bracts similar to the 

 leaves, but smaller: umbels i-10-rayed, simple or compound: involucres 

 woolly, deeply lobed, the lobes reflexed: flowers whitish. Common on 

 basaltic ledges. 



93. RUMEX. 



Perennial or annual leafy-stemmed herbs, some species slightly 

 wood}-: stem grooved, mostly branched: leaves entire or undulate, 

 flat or crisped; ocreae usually cylindric, brittle, soon falling away: 

 inflorescence of simple or compound often panicled racemes: flow- 

 ers green, perfect, dioecious or polygamo-monoecious, whorled, on 

 jointed pedicels: calyx 6-parted, the three outer sepals unchanged 

 in fruit, the three inner ones mostly developed into valves which 

 are entire, dentate or fringed with bristle-like teeth: 

 stamens 6: stigmas tufted: akene 3-angled, the angles more or less 

 margined. All of our species are perennial. 



Plants small: flowers dioecious. R. ACETOSEl,i,A. 



Plants large: flowers perfect or polygamous. 



Outer sepals without tubercle-like thickenings in fruit. 



Fruiting-valves 15-20 mm. long. R. VENOSUS. 



Fruiting-valves 6-10 mm. long. R. occidentals. 



Outer sepals with a tubercle-like thickening in fruit. 



Leaves crisped. R. crispus. 



Leaves flat. R. saeicifoucs. 



R. acetosella L. Dioecious, widely spreading by creeping rootstocks: 

 stems slender, 10-30 cm. high, simple or somewhat branched : leaves 3-10 

 cm. long, very acid, glabrous, mostly hastate, the basal lobes entire or 

 toothed; ocreae scarious, becoming cut into lobes: panicle narrow, the 

 branches ascending: bracts wanting: flowers small, on short jointed pedicels, 

 clustered: sepals remaining small, much shorter' than the 3-angled akene. 

 Introduced; a weed in lawns and pastures. 



R. veilOSUS Pursh. Stems 30-60 cm. tall, commonly woody, strongly 

 grooved, erect or decumbent, from woody creeping rootstocks: leaves ellip- 

 tic or lanceolate, entire, acute at each end, S-12 cm. long: petioles stout, 

 rather dense, 10-15 cm. long: valves bright red, cordate-orbicular, entire, 

 very large, 1.5-2 cm. long, wholly without tubercles: akenes 6-8 mm. long. 

 In sandy soil along Snake River. 



R. OCCidentalis Wats. Stout, 1-1.5 m - tell: leaves oblong-ovate, mostly 

 obtuse, 15-40 cm. long, entire or undulate, cordate at the base; petioles of 

 the lower leaves long and slender, of the upper stout: panicles 30-60 cm. 

 long, dense, usually reddish: flowers on slender pedicels 1 cm. long, valves 

 broadly ovate-cordate, obtuse, more or less toothed, 6-10 cm. long, whollv 

 without tubercles: akene brown, 4 mm. long. Common in swampy places. 



R. crispus L. Stem stout, .5-1 m. high, grooved, from an elongated fusi- 

 form root: leaves oblong, obtuse, truncate or rounded at the base, 15-30 cm. 

 long, the margin wavy and crisped: petiole short: panicle rather dense, 20-40 



