586 POLYGONACE.E rumex 



tufted, about a foot high: leaves spatulate to lanceolate, or the shortest 

 somewhat elliptical-ovate, very gradually narrowed at base, neither auricl- 

 ed nor hastate, 2-6 inches long: inflorescence rather simple, with suberect 

 branches: pedicels about as long as the fruit, jointed toward the base, in- 

 ner segment of the calyx about 2 lines in diameter, achenes about a line 

 long. In mountain parks, Brit. Columbia to California and the Rocky 

 Mountains. 



R. acetosa L. Sp. 337. Stems simple, mostly solitary, 1-4 feet high, 

 rather slender : leaves ovate or oblong-ovate 2-6 inches long, mostly obtuse, 

 deeply cordate with commonly acute auricles or subsagittate, a small tooth 

 sometimes present on each auricle : inflorescence a rather simple strict 

 panicle : pedicels about as long as the fruit conspicuously jointed in the 

 middle: outer sepals of pistillate relatively large, reflexed in flower orbicu- 

 lar, 2-3 lines in diameter clawiess usually with a delicate callosity at base : 

 achene about 3 lines long. In open places in woods, Alaska to Oregon and 

 across the continent. 



§ 2 Lapatha Canipd. 1. c. Leaves never hastate, with or 

 without acid juice. Inflorescence with stouter, sometimes leafy 

 branches: hermaphrodite or andro-monoecious. Inner sepals 

 commonly reticulated, becoming round or elongated and much 

 larger than the achene. 



* Sepals at most very minutely erose or low denticulate. 



-*- Inner sepals very large, mostly red, round or broadly ovate deep- 

 ly cordate, without callosities, outer sepals at length reflexed. 



R. venosus Pursh Fl. 733. Glabrous throughout: stems stout, 8-18 

 inches high from long running perenninal roots, branching from most of 

 the axils: leaves thick and somewhat coriaceous, elliptical to nearly ovate, 

 abruptly acute at both ends, 2-6 inches long : inflorescence nearlv simple, 

 leafless, the short zigzasr branches divergent: pedicels rather stout about 

 as long as the f'uit tumidly jointed below the middle: inner sepals firm, 

 bright rosy- red, orbicular or broader than long, 8-12 lines in diameter, the 

 sinuses often closed, emarginate to shortly blunt acuminate : achenes about 

 4 lines long, On sandy plains east of the Cascade Mountains, Brit. Colum- 

 bia to Nevada and Kansas. 



-•-+- Inner sepals not over 6 lines long, only moderately if at 

 all cordate. 



-+ Inner sepals round or very broadly ovate, low reticulate pedi- 

 cels slender or capillary. 



R. occidentalis Watson Proc. Am. Acad, xii, 253. Glabrous: stems 

 stout, 1-3 feet high, from thick perennial roots : leaves ovate to lanceolate, 6- 

 12 inches long wavy-margined, truncately cordate, the apex roundedto acute, 

 with acid juice : inflorescence strict and dense, rosy-red in fruit, naked 

 or with a few small leaves below pedicels 2-3 times as long as the fruit, very 

 obscurely jointed below the middle: inner sepals at length rosy-red, 3-5 

 lines long, deltoid-ovate, often only slightly cordate, remotely erose or den- 

 ticulate, rounded or obtuse at the apex, without callosities : achenes 2 lines 

 long. In wet or moist alluvial soil, California to Alaska and Colorado. 



R. conlinis Greene'Pitt. iv, 306. Stems stout, often 6-8 feet high : 

 blade of the lowest leaves oftenll^ feet long, commonly 6 inches wide to- 

 ward the deeply subhastate-cordate base, lanceolate, on petioles nearly as 

 long as the blade : panicle ample, 1 -2 feet long : pedicels slender, 3-6 lines 

 long, jointed well above the base: valves suborbicular, with subtruncate 

 base, green and of thin texture, the margins more or less crenate or den^ 

 tate toward the base. In w et madows, in the lake region of northern Idaho. 



