RUMEX. 



has a very different appearance. Moreover, this fpecies is 

 cultivated at Kew, where it was introduced in 1793, by 

 Mr. Hunnemann, and is publifhed by Mr. Aiton as dif- 

 tinft. It flowers in July and Auguft. See R. auratus, 

 n. 30. 



14. R. acutus. Sharp Dock. Linn. Sp. PI. 478. 

 Willd. n. 14? Ait. n. 11. Fl. Brit. n. 3. Engl. Bot. 



u 7 2 4- 



0. Laoathum acutum minimum ; Dill, in Raii Syn. 141. 



Bauh. Hift. v. 2. 985. (Small Sharp Dock ; Petiv. H. 

 Brit. t. 2. f. 4.) — Flowers united. Valves oblong, ob- 

 fcurely toothed, each bearing a roundifh prominent grain. 

 Leaves oblong, pointed ; fomewhat heart-fhaped at the 

 bafe. Clutters leafy. — Native of marfhy meadows in Eng- 

 land, and other parts of Europe, perennial, flowering in 

 July. The Jlem is ereft, or fomewhat zigzag, angular, 

 fug-owed) fmooth to the touch. Leaves narrow ; the 

 lower ones only flightly heart-fhaped ; all Imooth and flat. 

 Branches elongated into long fpreading elujlers, confifting 

 of numerous, diitinft, and rather diftant, whorls, each of 

 which is accompanied by a fmall, lanceolate, ftalked leaf. 

 The flowers are occafionally polygamous, and fome of 

 the males have been obferved by Mr. Sowerby to be 

 furnifhed with twelve Jlamens ; the greater part of the 

 flowers however have ufually fix only, in the fame calyx 

 witli the piftil. The feed is fmall. Valves oblong and 

 bluntifh, moilly entire, though fometimes toothed at the 

 bafe, each of them bearing a large, red, almoit globular, 

 grain, of the fame fize in all. 



This is a fpecies about which there has been more doubt 

 and controverfy than any other. Mod botaniits have mif- 

 taken for it our green variety of R. fangu'meus, n. 2, and 

 we can by no means be certain how far Mr. Curtis has 

 committed the fame error. The two plants however are 

 perfectly diltindt, nor is there any uncertainty in the 

 chara&ers by which we have defined them. The prefent 

 has a large grain on each valve, and the whorls are moil of 

 them, if not all, accompanied by a leaf. The other has 

 two of the valves without grains, the third bearing a 

 very large one, and there is only a leaf or two, here and 

 there, at the lower whorls ; the long feries of them above 

 being leaflefs. By an attention to this lalt character, the 

 figures of old authors, bad as they are, may be determined. 

 With refpett to Mr. Curtis's fine plate, we confefs we 

 remain in uncertainty. His elujlers are almoft leaflefs, like 

 the fanguineus 0, but his feparate JJowers unqueftionably 

 belong to the acutus. We have no doubt that he con- 

 founded thefe fpecies, and that his expreffion of two of 

 the valves being " generally naked," is calculated to 

 fquare with both. Two of them are really in Jan- 

 gineus always naked, nor do we find any uncertainty in this 

 character. 



15. R. oltujifolius. Broad-leaved Dock. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 478. Willd. 11. 15. Ait. n. 12. Purlh n. 7. Fl. Brit, 

 n. 4. Engl. Bot. t. 1999. Curt. Lond. fafc. 3. t. 22. (L. 

 fylveftre, folio minus acuto ; Ger. Em. 388. Lob. Ic. 

 285.) — Flowers united. Valves toothed ; one principally 

 grained. Radical leaves heart-fhaped, obtufc. Sinn rough- 

 i(h. —A common and troublefome weed throughout Europe, 

 flowering in July and Auguft. The long, perennial tap 

 root runs deep into the ground, and is yellowifh, not red, 

 within. Stuns numerous, two or three feet high, furrowed ; 

 rougheft ia the upper part. Radical leaves very large and 

 fpreading; wavy, more or lefa blunt, not unlike thole ot 

 horfe-radifh, but hardly fo big ; their footjlalks long and 

 channelled. Stem leaves much narrower anil more pointed, 

 on fhorter llalks, fomewhat crifped and creuate. Clujhrs 



generally bearing a few leaves, though often deftitute'of any. 

 Seed large. Valves rather large, oblong-heart-fhaped, entire 

 at the extremity, but having three {harp prominent teeth 

 near the bafe. The outermolt bears an oblong grain, 

 (mailer in proportion to the valve than in moft of the fore- 

 going, and the grains of the two other valves are hardly dif- 

 cernible. 



Mr. Curtis recommends frequent mowing as a fure means 

 of dellroying this dock. Mr. Purih fpeaksof it as a common 

 weed in old paltures and gardens in North America, though 

 probably introduced from Europe. 



16. R. pulcher. Fiddle Dock. Linn. Sp. PI. 477. 

 Willd. n. 16. Ait. n. 13. Fl. Brit. n. 5. Engl. Bot. 

 t. 1576. (Lapathum pulchrum bononienfe finuatum ; Bauh. 

 Hilt. v. 2. 988. Fiddle Dock ; Petiv. H. Brit. t. 2. f. 10.) 

 — Flowers united. Valves many-toothed ; one of them 

 bearing a larger grain than the reft. Radical leaves fiddle- 

 lhaped. Stem fmooth, ftraggling. — Native of dry gravelly 

 paftures, and waite ground, in the more temperate parts of 

 Europe, from England to Greece ; perennial, flowering in 

 Auguft. The radical leaves, fo remarkably contracted in 

 one part as to refemble a fiddle ; the widely fpreading, 

 almoit horizontal, Jlems and branches ; and the fharp nume- 

 rous teeth of the ltrongly reticulated valves, clearly mark 

 this fpecies. The outer valve bears an oblong reddifh 

 grain, larger than what ulually occurs on the others. Seed 

 very fmooth and polifhed, with thin acute angles. A 

 fmall leaf accompanies each whorl, though fometimes 

 fcarcely longer than the flower. The petals are larger and 

 more coloured in lome Swifs fpecimens, than we have noticed 

 them in the flowering itate of our Enghfh plants. Willde- 

 now repeats under this fpecies the fynonym of Tilli, which 

 properly belongs to R. d'tvaricatus ; apparently on the au- 

 thority of Willich. See onr remarks under n. 13. 



17. R. aquattcus. Great Water Dock. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 479. Willd. n. 18. Ait. n. 9. Purlh n. 8. Fl. Brit, 

 n. 8. Engl. Bot. t. 2104. Ehrh. PI. Off. n. 1 14. (R. Hy- 

 drolapathum ; Hudf. 154. Willd. n. 6. Woodv. Med. 

 Bot. t. 178. R. acutus; Ehrh. PI. Off", n. 104. Lapa- 

 thum, n. 1588; Hall. Hift. v. 2.271. Hydrolapathum 

 magnum; Lob. Ic. 285. Ger. Em. 389.) — Flowers 

 united. Valves ovate, almoft entire, bearing fmall or obfo- 

 lete grains. Leaves lanceolate, acute ; the lower ones 

 heart-fhaped at the bafe. — Native of ditches, pools, and the 

 borders of rivers, throughout Europe ; as well as in North 

 America, from Pennfylvania to Virginia, but, according to 

 Mr. Purfh, not common. With us it is very plentiful and 

 confpicuous, being by far the largeft of our docks, and 

 flowering in July and Auguft. — The root is large, knobby, 

 and perennial. Stems eredt, four or five feet high, angular, 

 and ltrongly furrowed. Leaves a foot long, (more or lefs,) 

 coriaceous, fmooth, with a glaucous hue, entire, fometimes 

 minutely curled at the edge. CluJlcrs branched, denlc, 

 moltly leaflefs. Flowers numerous, on flendtr drooping 

 Italks. Valves ovate, veiny, entire, or very fparingly 

 notched, each bearing an ovate grain, various in fize, or 

 fometimes having only a tumid rib. The former is ulually 

 the cafe with our Bntiih plant, and is confpicUOUS in Ehr- 

 hart's PI. Off. n. 114, which he gives ar. R. aquatievs of 

 Linnaeus from Upfal ; while his n. 104, without grains, is 

 marked, certainly crroncoully, acutus ot Linnrus, and is 



likewife from Upfal. The authentic Swedilh fpecimen, in 

 the Linnsean herbarium, precifelj refembles the firft of thefe 



in habit, while its valves, having fcarcely any indications of 



in,, agree with thole oi the latter. We believe the 



prefence or abfence of grains, in tin:. • afe, does not afford 



a fpecific difference. Hence, however, it readily appears 



4 U 2 why 



