RUMEX. 



Sp. H. 476. Willd. n. 4. Purfli a. 3.— Flowers united. 

 Valves fomewhat deltoid, entire, all granular. Leaves flat, 

 lanceolate ; with tubular, membranous (heaths embracing the 

 item. Clutters nearly leaflefs. — In rivulets and (hady woods, 

 from Canada to Virginia, flowering in July, perennial. Purjh. 

 The Jem is fomewhat zigzag, afcending, angular and fur- 

 rowed, fmooth, inverted above every leaf with a tubular, 

 pale, membranous, intrafoliaceous Jifula, or (heath, near^an 

 inch long. Leaves flat and even. Flowers twice the fize 

 of the lait, with very large oblong grains, which are often 

 wrinkled. The fetal itfelf is alfo itrongly marked with pro- 

 jefting reticulated veins. 



6. R. Br'itannka. Virginian Water-Dock. Linn. Sp. 

 PL '476. Willd. n. 5. Purfh n. 4. — Flowers united. 

 Valves ovate, obtufe, all granular. Leaves flat, lanceolate ; 

 with fcarcely any (heaths. Clutters panicled, leaflefs. — 

 Near rivulets in Virginia and Carolina ; perennial, flower- 

 ing in June and July. Purfli. This is readily diftinguifhed 

 from the kft, with which Linnaeus fometimes negligently 

 confounded it, notwithstanding his own clear definition. 

 The want of the tubular fheathing^//a/<w is alone fufhcient. 

 The grains on the valves are, moreover, much fmaller, and 

 Mr. Purfh has well adverted to the panicled inflorefcence, 

 compofed of numerous, lax, many-flowered dujlers. The 

 fpecific name Br'itannka, not britannkus, alludes to former 

 controverfies, of Muntingius and others, about what was 

 the true Herba Br'itannka; but why this American plant 

 fhould be fo called, we know no good reafon, nor is it 

 worth while to examine which of the bad figures in the 

 verbofe and ufelefs author kit named, is moil, or leaft, like 

 our plant. None of them, we believe, is properly re- 

 ferrible to it. The Herla Br'itannka of the ancients is faid 

 to have been a powerful antifcorbutic, or tonic, and was 

 found on our own, or the neighbouring, coatts. 



7. R. ferftcarioides. Perficaria Dock. Linn. Sp. PL 

 477. Willd. n. 9. Ait. n. 4. Purfh n. 5.— Flowers 

 united. Valves lanceolate, taper-pointed, toothed, all gra- 

 nular. Leaves lanceolate, wavy, nearly entire.— In fhady 

 wet woods, on the banks of ditches, in Virginia and Caro- 

 lina, flowering in July, annual. Sent to Kew in 1773, by 

 the chevalier Murray, profeffor at Gottingen, but we 

 prefume it is fcarcely preferved, being fo like our common 

 docks, except the advantage, in this cafe, of having only an 

 annual root. The dujlers are accompanied, at each whorl, 

 with a (talked leaf, rather fmaller than thofe on other parts 

 of the branched Jlem. Flowers fmall, erect. Valves nar- 

 row, with long (lender points, and each bearing a large, 

 oblong, (lightly kidney-fhaped, fmooth, tawny grain. 



8. R. crifpatulus. Crifped Dock. Michaux Boreali- 

 Amcr. v. 1. 217. Purfh n. 6 — Flowers united. Valves 

 heart-fhaped, obtufe, three-toothed at each fide ; two of them 

 granular. Clutters leaflefs. Leaves crifped and wavy at 

 the margin ; the lower ones oval ; upper lanceolate. — 

 Native of Kentucky. Michaux. Akin to the kft. Its 

 habit is faid to be like R. acutus, but the vahes invert- 

 ing the feed are much larger. One of them bears no 

 granular tubercle, and the grains of the two others are 

 unequal in fize. The upper leaves are minutely crenukted. 



9. R. agyptiacus. Egyptian Dock. Linn. Sp. PL 477. 

 Willd. n. 10. Ait. n. 5. (Lapathum jegyptium annuum, 

 parietarije folio, capfula feminis Iongius barbata ; Till. 

 Pif. 93. t. 37. f. 1.) — Flowers united. Valves with three 

 very long capillary points at each fide ; one only bearing 

 an ovate grain. Gathered near Memphis, by J. B. de 

 Georgis, furgeon to the grand duke of Tufcany, whence 

 it was introduced into the garden at Pifa, and foon after, 

 as it appears, fent to Miller at Chelfea. The root is an- 



nual. This fpecies is readily known by the fine capillary 

 teeth of its valves, fpreading in every direftion, and giving 

 the dujlers, which are long, denfe, and leafy, a hairy ap- 

 pearance. Each valve is fmall, reticulated with (trong 



veins. 



10. R.dentatus. Sharp-toothed Dock. Lmn. Mant. 226. 

 Svft. Veg. ed. 13. 284. Willd. n. 11. Ait. n. 6. (La- 

 pathum segyptium, capfula feminis alba et crenata ; Boerh. 

 Ind. Alt. v. 2. 8?. Dill. Elth. 191. t. 158. f. 191.)— 

 Flowers united. Valves with awl-lhaped teeth; all gra- 

 nular. Clutters denfe, leafy. Leaves lanceolate.— -Ga- 

 thered in Egypt, by the unfortunate Auguftin Lippi, 

 afterwards murdered by the barbarians of Nubia. This 

 plant was originally confounded, by Linnaeus, with the 

 kft, from which it 'differs effentially, having valves thrice 

 as large, bordered with awl-fhaped teeth, fcarcely exceed- 

 ing their own length, each valve bearing a large, pale, 

 ovate grain.— The plant is annual, a fpan high, branched 

 from the bottom. 



11. R. maritimus. Golden Dock. Linn. Sp. VI. 478. 

 Willd. n. 12.- Ait. n. 7. Fl. Brit. n. 6. Engl. Bot. 

 t. 725. (Lapathum anthoxanthum ; Bauh. Hid. v. 2. 987.) — 

 Flowers united. Valves deltoid, with fetaceous teeth; 

 each bearing a nearly cylindrical grain. Clutters denfe. 

 Leaves linear— Native of marfhes in various parts oi 

 Europe, chiefly near the fea. It is perennial, flowering in 

 Tulv and Auguft. This is molt akin to R. tgyftiacus, 

 with which its denfe leafy dujlers, and tawny or golden 

 hue, agree. But the foliage is more linear, and the teeth 

 of the valves, though almoft capillary, not one-third fo 

 long, while the valves themfelves are larger, and every 

 one of them marked with a grain, which is oblong, and 

 nearly cylindrical, not ovate. The Jlem is itrongly angular 

 and furrowed, roughifh, reddifh, a little zigzag. Leaves 

 (talked, bluntifh, flat. Whorls very denfe, and crowded 

 into cylindrical leafy clutters, often of a rich golden hue. 

 Seed very fmall, compared with our common docks. 



12. R. faluflris. Yellow Marfh Dock. Fl. Brit. n. 7. 

 Eno-1. Bot. t. 1932. Ait. n. 8. (R. maritimus; Ehrh. 

 Herb. n. 74. Curt. Lond. fafc. 3. t. 23. Lapathum aqua- 

 ticam, luteohe folio; Bocc. Muf. v. 2. 143. t. 104. Hy- 

 drokpathum minus ; Lob. Ic. 286. Ger. Em. 309.)— , 

 Flowers united. Valves 'lanceolate, toothed at the bafe ; 

 each bearing an oblong grain. Leaves i:. ear-lanceolate. 

 Whorls dittant.— Native of marfhes, ditches, and wet 

 watte places in Germany, Italy, and England. Found in 

 feveral fituations near London ; alfo at Acle and Saham 

 in Norfolk. It is perennial, flowering in July and Auguft. 

 Many botanifts have confounded this with the kit, from 

 which it differs in having dittant leafy ivhorls, and lan- 

 ceolate vahes, each furmfhed at the bafe, on each fide, 

 with three (lender teeth, much fhorter than the foregoing. 

 The leaves are linear-lanceokte and acute ; the radical ones 

 very large. Stem furrowed, reddifh, rough to the touch. 

 The root, as Curtis obferved, is red internally. 



13. R. divarkatm. Spreading Italian Dock. Linn. 

 Sp. PL 478. Willd. n. 13. Ait. n. 10. (Lapathum 

 arvenfe fubhirfutum, folio retufo, caule longnis bracluato, 

 capfula feminis crenata; Till. Pif. 93- l - 37- f - 2 -) — 

 Flowers united. Valves heart-fhaped, toothed, granular 

 Leaves heart-fhaped- oblong, obtufe, downy.— Native of 

 fields in Italy. Root annual. Linnaeus truly fays, that 

 Haller confidered this as the fame with R. fulcher hereafter 

 defcribed. We have feen no fpecimen ; but though in 

 Tilli's figure the valves invefting the feed are not very 

 unlike thofe of fulcher, the large oblong leaf, not at all 

 contraded in the middle, and hairy as well as its footfall:, 



has 



