~~ 
5a ENGLISH BOTANY. 
petioles, acute, very finely repand-crenulate and flat at the margins; 
lower and middle stem leaves similar but smaller, less gradually 
attenuated, and with shorter petioles; leaves at the base of the whorls 
strapshaped-elliptical or strapshaped. Branches of the panicle ascend- 
ing-erect, nearly leafless. Pedicels longer than the fruit petals, articu- 
lated below the middle, spreading half-way round the stem. Flowers 
perfect. Enlarged petals ovate-triangular, acuminated, wedgeshaped- 
truncate at the base, acute, entire or faintly denticulate, rather strongly 
reticulate, each of them with a lanceolate-oblong tubercle. 
In ditches and by the sides of streams and ponds. Frequent and 
generally distributed in England, though rather local. Rare in Scot- 
land, where it certainly occurs in the island of Islay; it has been 
reported from numerous other stations in Scotland, but these require 
to be confirmed by competent authority. Rather local, but generally 
distributed in Ireland. 
England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Late Summer, Autumn. 
Rootstock thick, black. Stem erect, furrowed, 3 to 6 feet high, 
branched in the upper part. Radical leaves, including the petiole, 
1 to 3 feet long, erect, gradually attenuated towards the base and 
apex. Petioles flat on the upper face and not winged at the margins, 
convex and furrowed beneath. Ochrex at length tearing into slender 
lacinee. Panicle very large, pyramidal-fusiform, rather dense. Whorls 
separated from each other by a distance about equal to the length of 
the pedicels, the upper ones on the stem and on each branch leafless. 
Pedicels unequal in length, the longest twice as long as the fruit petals. 
Fruit petals } to inch long, reddish or olive-fawn colour ; the two outer 
ones somewhat channeled and concave, the inner one nearly flat ; all of 
them with a red or yellowish white tubercle nearly half as long as the 
enlarged petal, the one on the flat petal generally smaller than those 
on the two channeled ones; the veins prominent and forming a raised 
network on ull of them. Nut + inch long, fawn colour, shining, 
acuminated at each end, triquetrous, two of the faces channeled, the 
third one nearly flat. Leaves dull green, not shining. Plant glabrous. 
Great Water Dock. 
French, Patience & longues feuilles. German, Fluss-Ampfer. 
This tall species of dock is very common on river banks, and has some reputation 
as an antiscorbutic. Its root is strongly astringent, and it makes, when powdered, a 
good dentifrice. It is said to be the Herba Britannica of Pliny, though certainly not 
confined to the British Islands, 
