POLYGONACE.E. (BUCKWHEAT FAMILY.) 421 



oblong-lanceolate, rather obtuse, thickish, pale-green, the lowest often heart- 

 shaped at the base. — Wet swamps: common. 



++ ++ Naturalized weeds : lower leaves mostly heart-shaped at the base. 



7. R. chispus, L. (Curled Dock.) Smooth; leaves with strongly wavy- 

 curled margins, lanceolate, acute, the lower truncate or scarcely heart-shaped at 

 the base; whorls crowded in prolonged wand-like racemes, leafless above; ruins 

 round-heart-shaped, obscurely denticulate or entire, mostly all of them grain-bearing. 

 — A very common weed in cultivated and waste grounds. Stem 3° - 4° high, 

 from a deep spindle-shaped yellow root. There is a hybrid of this with the 

 next. (Nat. from Eu.) 



8. R. obtusifolius, L. (Bitter Dock.) Stem rougbish ; lowest leaves 

 ovate-heart-shaped, obtuse, rather downy on the veins underneath, somewhat wavy- 

 margined, the upper obi omj -lanceolate, acute ; whorls loose and distant ; valves ovate- 

 halberd-shaped, and with some sharp awl-shaped teeth at the base, strongly reticulated, 

 one of them principally grain-bearing. — Fields, &c. (Nat. from Eu.) 



9. R. coxglo.meratus, Murray. (Smaller Green Dock.) Leaves ob- 

 long, pointed, slightly wavy-margined, the lower heart-shaped at the base ; whorls 

 distant, leafy ; pedicels very short ; valves linear-oblong, rather broader next the base ; 

 obtuse, entire, each bearing a single reddish grain. (R. acutus, Smith.) — Moist 

 places; sparingly introduced. (Nat. from Eu.) 



10. R. sanguineus, L. (Bloody-veined Dock. ) Leaves lanceolate, wavy- 

 margined, the lowest heart-shaped at the base ; whorls distant, in long and slender 

 leafless interrupted spikes ; pedicels very short ; valves narrowly oblong, obtuse, entire, 

 one at least grain-bearing ; veins of the leaf red, or, in var. vfRiDis, green. — 

 "Waste and cultivated grounds. (Nat. from Eu.) 



* * Annuals, low : valves bearing long awns or bristles. 



11. R. maritimus, L. (Golden Dock.) Minutely pubescent, diffusely 

 branched ; leaves lariffe-linear, wavy-margined, the lower auricled or heart-shaped 

 at base ; whorls excessively crowded in leafy and compact or interrupted spikes ; 

 valves rhombic-oblong, lance-pointed, each bearing 2-3 long awn-like bristles 

 on each side, and a large grain on the back. (Also R. persicarioides, L.) — Sea- 

 shore, Virginia to Massachusetts: also Illinois and westward. — Plant 6' -12' 

 high ; remarkable for the crowded and almost orange-colored fruiting calyx, 

 the bristles usually longer than the width of the valves. (Eu.) 



§2. Sorrel. Flowers dioecious, small, in a terminal naked panicle: herbage sour : 

 some leaves halberd-shaped: smooth perennials, flowering in spring. 



12. R. Engelmanni, Ledeb. Stem simple, l°-2° high; leaves nearly 

 as in the next ; pedicels jointed at or below the middle ; valves of the fruiting calyx 

 round-heart-shaped, thin, finely reticulated, naked, many times larger than the 

 achenium. (R. hastulatus, Baldwin.) — S. W. Illinois, thence southward and 

 westward. 



13. R. Acetosella, L. (Field or Sheep Sorrel.) Low (6' - 12' high) ; 

 leaves lance-halberd-form, at least those of the root, the narrow lobes entire ; 

 pedicels jointed with the flower ; valves scarcely enlarging in fruit, ovate, naked. — 

 An abundant weed in waste places and all sterile and worn fields. — The fertil^. 

 panicles usually turn reddish in summer. (Nat. from Eu.) 



