RUM EX. 



Labradore, Siberia, Switzerland, Wales, Scotland, and 

 the north of England, always in very elevated fpots, at 

 lead in our ifland, flowering in June. The leaves are 

 nearly all radical, on long Italics, kidney-fhaped, an inch 

 wide, wavy, veiny, pale green, acid, each terminating in a 

 broad (hallow notch. Stem a fpan high, panicled. Flotver- 



Jlalks in (mall groups or tufts, capillary. Valves ovate, 

 emarginate, entire, reddifh, with no traces of grains. The 



Jlotvers, having but two Jly/es, afford a decilive fpecitic cha- 

 racter of themfelves, as well as an excellent name. The 

 fegment6 of the calyx are but two, as well as the petals, or 

 valves. The feed is orbicular and flattifh, having a broad 

 border. 



26. R. lanceolatus. Lanceolate Cape Dock. Thunb. 

 Prodr. 67. Willd. n. 26. — " Leaves lanceolate, with a re- 

 flexed border. Stem angular." — Found by Thunberg at 

 the Cape of Good Hope. We have never feen it. 



27. R. graminif alius. Grafs-leaved Sorrel. — Leaves 

 linear, entire, very narrow. Stipulas fheathing, imbricated. 

 Panicle angular. — Native of Siberia. Communicated by 

 profeflor Rudolph to A. B. Lambert, efq. under the above 

 name, which very aptly defcribes the numerous, long, grafly 

 leaves. "Thejlem feems fhrubby. Flowers fmall, in a forked 

 raccmofe panicle. Our fpecimcn is not perfect enough to 

 fhcw whether the Jlamens and pijlils are in the fame flower or 

 not, neither are the valves difcernible. We therefore merely 

 mention here, for further enquiry, this very curious and 

 diilinft fpecies, of which we find no publifhed account. 



Sect. 3. Perftcl Jlamens and pijlils in ftparate Jlotvers. 



28. R. Lunaria. Tree Sorrel. Linn. Sp. PI. 479. 

 Willd. n. 19. Ait. n. 15. (R. polygamus ; Cavan. Ic. 

 v. 1. 14. t. 22. Acetofa arborefcens, fubrotundo folio; 

 Pluk. Almag. 8. Phyt. t. 252. f. 3.) — Flowers monoe- 

 cious. Males with twelve ftamens. Anthers oblong. Fe- 

 males with fix abortive ones. Valves rounded, granular. 



Stem fhrubby. Leaves (lightly heart-fhaped Native of 



the Canary illands, from whence it was brought into the 

 Euglifh green-lioufes, as loon as tender exotics became much 

 cultivated. It flowers in June and July. The Jlem is 

 fhrubby, branched, fpreading, often reddifh. Leaves alter- 

 nate, on longifh (talks, fklhy, entire, fmooth, of a pale 

 glaucous hue and acid tafte. Stipulas fheathing, broad, mem- 

 branous, whitifh. Flowers in a large, terminal, branched, 

 racemofe panicle; their particular (Irudture Cavanilles tirll 

 explained, and we have nearly verified his defcription. He 

 knew not that his was a Limixan plant, nor did the editors 

 of Hort. Kew. difcover his fynonym. Some Jlotvers are 

 entirely male, with a three-cleft calyx, three very minute 

 unchangeable petals, and twelve Jlamens, whofe anthers are 

 divided half way down. Other jlotvers, in the fame panicle, 

 have a fimilar calyx undpttals, but the latter are fubfequcntly 

 enlarged into three orbicular, emarginate, veiny valves, each 

 Bearing a fmall gran. Thele flowers have moftly the rudi- 

 ments of fat. Jlamens, bit entirely ineffectual, hardly vilible 

 to the naked eye. We prefume the large capillary tufts, 

 defcribed by Cavanilles, are the rrn\ fligmas, thejlylu being 

 bent down to the bottom of the llower, as in many other 

 fpecies, with whofe Jligmas thefe plumofe tufts exactly ac- 

 cord. But this we have not ascertained) as yet, in the 

 living plant. Confid'-ring the prefent fpeciesafl in fact mo- 

 boei ion :, not polygamous, we have removed it to this 

 fedtion. 



29. R. hajlulatus. Little-halberd-leaved Sorrel. — Flowers 

 feparatcd, dioecious ? Anthers orbicular. Stem fhrubby, 

 angular. Leaves halbcrd-fhaped, revolute. Gathered by 

 Mr. Menzies in Chili. 'I'hejlcm is woody, with numerous, 



long, lax, zigzag, angular branches. Leaves half an inch 

 long, or rather more, entire, minutely roughifh, obtufe, 

 tapering at the bafe into afootfla/h, about half their own 

 length. Stipulas fhort, membranous, obtufe. Flotvers in 

 folitary, terminal clujlers, with a concave, thick, permanent 

 bradea, and feveral minute membranous ones, under each 

 little affemblage of three partial (talks. Segments of the 

 calyx, as well as the petals, concave, reflexed. Stamens fix, 

 fhorter than the calyx. /Inthers of two round lobes, open- 

 ing externally. We can difcover no other than male flowers. 



30. R. auratus. Golden-flowered Dock. (Favrodine 

 doree : Reynier Mem. de la Societe de Laufanne, v. 2.) — 

 Flowers feparated, dioecious ? Stamens nine or twelve. 

 Anthers oblong. Petals none in the male. Stem herba- 

 ceous, angular. Leaves ovato-lanceolate, fomewhat cre- 

 nate, with hairy ribs. — Native of Switzerland. Reynier, 

 Davall. Firfl found by M. Favrod, in a meadow not far 

 from the village of Caflrod. M. Reynier, who conceived 

 this plant to form a dittinct genus from Rumex, on account 

 of the want of petals, and the fuper-abundance of Jlamens, 

 named it as above. His own fpecimen, now in our hands, 

 and thofe of Mr. Davall, are entirely male. We have never 

 feen either female flowers, or Jruit ; nor can we find any in- 

 dication of this Rumex in Haller, or elfewhere. The habit 

 of the herb bears a general relemblance to our common 

 Docks, acutus, crijpus, &c. The Jlem is angular, and 

 (Irongly furrowed, panicled above, with long leaflefs clujlers 

 of innumerable fmall male Jlotvers, of a green and tawny 

 hue, on drooping capillaryyia/L'. The leaves are lanceolate, 

 ovate, or fomewhat heart-fhaped ; their ribs, veins, and 

 long j'ootjlalhs, hairy. This lalt character induces a fufpicion 

 that the plant before us may poflibly be the male of R. di- 

 varieatus, n. 13, a fpecies concerning which very little is 

 known, and which Haller, on the authority of Willich, re- 

 ports to have, on cultivation, become the fame as pulcher. 

 Our auratus indeed is diitinft from pulcher, but maybe a va- 

 riety of divaricatus, become occalioually dioecious, if it 

 be not always fo. The three fegments of the calyx are 

 fpreading, linear, keeled and channelled, rather Ihorter than 

 the anthers, which are cloven at the top. 



31. R. alpinus. Alpine Dock, or Monk's Rhubarb. 

 Linn. Sp. PI. 480. Willd. 11. 27. Ait. n. 21. (Lapa- 

 thum folio rotundo, alpinum ; Bauh. Hilt. v. 2. 9S7. 

 Hippolapathum rotundifolium ; Ger. Em. 389. ) — Flowers 

 monoecious, or polygamous. Valves entire, naked. Leaves 

 heart-fhaped, obtufe, rugofe. —Native of the alps of Swit- 

 zerland, France, and Savoy, as well as of Greece and the 

 Bithynian Olympus, flowering in July. Cultivated ever 

 fince Gerarde's time in our gardens, where it thrives, even 

 in the fmoke of London, and makes a very handfome ap- 

 pearance with its ample rich-green foliage. The root is 

 thick, certainly perennial, though Linna-us and Willdenow 

 mark it as biennial, and is faid to pollcls the medical virtues 

 of Rhubarb, in a weaker degree. Foot/la/is very long. 

 Stipulas membranous, fheathing. Stan two feet high, erect, 

 leafy, round, furrowed, fmooth. Clujlers forming an ob- 

 long, denle, leafy panicle, of innumerable green Jlotvers, 

 ionic of which have Jlamens with a, ufually imperfect, 

 germen ; others are entirely female. Valves heart -limped, 

 Wrongly reticulated with veins ; their midrib a little tumid, 

 but not granular. Seed lmall. 



32. R. Jpmojus. Prickly-fecded Dock. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 481. Willd. n. 28. Ait. n. 22. Sm. Fl. Grx-c. Sibth. 

 t. 347, unpublifhed. (Beta cretica, famine aculeato j Bauh. 

 Prodr. 57. B. cretica, femine fpinofo ; Bauh. Hilt. v. 2. 

 963.) — Flowers monoecious. Calyx of the females ot 1 ne 



leaf 



