192 HEXANDRIA— TRIGYNIA. Ruraex. 



than the calyx, veiny, waved, each bearing a large, ovate, brown 

 tubercle. Seed contracted at each end, with 3 blunt or tumid 

 angles, larger than the foregoing. 

 A very troublesome and unprofitable weed. 



3. R. acutus. Sharp Dock. 



Permanent petals oblong, obscurely toothed, all tubercu- 

 lated. Leaves oblong-heart-shaped, pointed. Clusters 

 leafy. 



R. acutus. Linn. Sp. PI. 478. JVilld. v. 2. 353. Fl. Br. 39'\. Engl. 



Bot. V. W.t. 724. Curt. Lond.fasc. 3. t. 21, the figure at least. 



Hook. Scot. 112? 

 R. paludosus. With. 354, by the descr, 

 Lapathum n. 1590. Hqll. Hist. v. 2. 271. 

 L. acutum. Raii Syn. 142. 



L. acutum, sive Oxylapathum. Bauh.Hist.v. 2. 983./. 984 ? 

 L. aquaticum minus. Bauh. Pin. 1 16. Bauh. Hist. v. 2. 987. f. 

 Smooth Sharp Dock. Pet. H. Brit. t. 2.f.3. 

 /S. Lapathum acutum minimum. Dill, in Raii Syn. 141. Bauh. 



Hist. V. 2. 985. f. Lob.Ic.284.f. 

 Small Sharp Dock, Pet. H. Brit. t. 2.f. 4. 



In low meadows, and watery places, not uncommon. 



Perennial. July. 



Root blackish, rather slender. Stem angular, furrowed, smooth, 

 leafy, alternately branched, a little zigzag, sometimes purplish, 

 about 2 feet high, somewhat reclining. Leaves stalked, flat ; 

 the lowermost heart-shaped at the base j the upper ones copi- 

 ous, small and narrow. Branches lax, elongated, bearing nu- 

 merous distant whorls, mostly accompanied by leaves. Petals 

 rarely and sparingly toothed at the base, oblong, each constantly 

 bearing a large tubercle, at first red, subsequently brown. Seed 

 small, ovate, acute, with 3 prominent, obtuse angles. 



Sometimes the Jlowers are partly separated, and the late Mr. 

 Sowerby detected 12 stamens in some of the barren ones. 



Authors appear not yet to understand this species, which is totally 

 difl^'erent from the bright-green variety of R. sanguineus, and al- 

 ways grows in watery situations. 



4. R. ohtusifolius . Broad-leaved Dock. 



Permanent petals toothed; one principally tuberculated. 

 Radical leaves heart-shaped, obtuse. Stem roughish. 



R. obtusifolius. Linn. Sp. PI. 478. Willd. v. 2. 254. Fl. Br. 392. 



Engl Bot. V. 28. t. 1999. Curt. Lond.fasc.3. t. 22. Hook. Scot. 



113. 

 Lapathum n. 1592. Hall. Hist. v. 2. 272. 

 L, vulgare, folio obtuso. Raii Syn. 141. 



