rumb] 



Ql\}C KxsaSutg ai MatKny. 



998 



so as to form a Little bag, and strap-shaped 

 upwards ; ten stamens slightly united at 

 the base into a ring, the alternate ones 

 only hearing anthers; and a five-celled 

 ovary crowned with five more or less united 

 styles. The fruits are smooth or rough 

 five-celled capsules the size of peas, with 

 one seed in each cell. B. Brummondii, a 

 Swan River species, from the lobing of its 

 leaves together with its habit resembling 

 that of Achillea, has been called achilleop- 

 sis. B. althwifolia is in cultivation, so also 

 are B. corylifolia and a few others, but none 

 are remarkable for their beauty. The 

 white starry flowers do not exceed a quarter 

 of an inch in diameter. [A. A. B.] 



RTJMBEH. A Malayan name for Pierar- 

 dia didcis. 



RUMBIYA. A Malayan name for the 

 Sago Palm. 



RTTMEX. The Dock and Sorrel genus— 

 a large and widely distributed group of 

 Polygonacece, occurring chiefly in the tem- 

 perate zones of both hemispheres. They are 

 herbs, more rarely undershruhs, with al- 

 ternate leaves, sheathing stipules (ochrea), 

 and verticillate racemose flowers arranged 

 in a paniculate manner. These have a 

 six-leaved perianth— the three outer leaves 

 cohering at the base and herbaceous, the 

 three inner larger, somewhat coloured, in- 

 creasing much in size after flowering, 

 when they often display a central tubercle; 

 stamens six ; styles three, with pencil-like 

 stigmas ; nut three-edged, enclosed in the 

 three inner connivent enlarged leaves of 

 the perianth. Many of the species are 

 troublesome weeds. Some have been used 

 as a substitute for Rhubarb-root, and 

 others are cultivated for their pleasant 

 acid foliage. 



There are a good many British species 

 belonging to this genus, which may be 

 divided into three sections or subgenera: — 



Lapathzim : the Dock. In this the 

 flowers are usually perfect, very rarely 

 dioecious, the inner perianth-leaves usu- 

 ally tubercled ; styles free, with multifld 

 stigmas. They are insipid herbs, with 

 pinnate-veined leaves, and many-flowered 

 whorls ; flowers in two three or five rows 

 in each whorl ; pedicels articulated at the 

 base. The British species are B. maritimus, 

 palustris, pulcher, obtusifolius, conglome- 

 ratus, sanguineus, pratensis, crispus, aqua- 

 ticus, Hydrolapathum, and alpinus. This 

 latter species is doubtless an introduced 

 plant, but is well naturalised in the mid- 

 counties of Scotland, where it is known 

 as Monk's Rhubarb. 



Acetosa: the Sorrel. In this group the 

 flowers are often dioecious or polygamously 

 monoecious ; perianth-segments without 

 tubercles ; styles adhering to the angles 

 of the ovary, with multifld stigmas. They 

 are acid herbs or undershrubs, with usually 

 hastate or sagittate leaves, and few-flower- 

 ed whorls, the flowers in one or two rows 

 in each whorl ; pedicels articulated at the 

 base in most of the species. Only two 

 species of this section occur in Britain, B. 



Acetosa and Acetosella ; but it includes also 

 the French Sorrel, B. scutatus, which has 

 polygamously monoecious flowers, and has 

 escaped from cultivation in a few places. 



Bumastrum, the third group, contains 

 no British species. It occurs in Abyssinia 

 and Arabia, and comprises insipid under- 

 shrubs with palmately-veined leaves, and 

 few-flowered whorls, having the pedicels 

 articulated at the middle. The flowers 

 are usually perfect, rarely monoecious ; the 

 styles adhere to the angles of the ovary 

 as in B. Acetosa, but the stigmas are not 

 many-cleft. [J. T. S.] 



B. obtusifolius, the Common Dock, and 

 several others are well-known as being 

 among the greatest pests to agriculturists. 

 A few species are cultivated for the sup- 

 posed medicinal properties of their roots, 

 and some as potherbs, the acidity in their 

 leaves rendering them both wholesome and 

 agreeable for such purposes. 



The Common Sorrel, B. Acetosa, is a 

 perennial, and is generally found in pas- 

 tures where the soil is inclined to be irony. 

 Formerly this plant was cultivated in 

 gardens for its leaves, which were used as 

 spinach or in salads, and in the time of 

 Henry VIII. it was held in great repute. 

 After the introduction of the French Sor* 

 rel.with large succulent leaves, it gradually 

 lost its position as a salad and potherb, and 

 for many years it has been entirely dis- 

 carded from cultivation. 



The Buckler-shaped or French Sorrel, 

 B. scutatus, is a hai'dy perennial, a native 

 of France and Italy, and is stated to have 

 been introduced into this country in 1596. 

 The leaves are blunt, somewhat halbert- 

 shaped, glaucous smooth soft and fleshy. 

 The stems are inclined to spread, but rise 

 from a foot to eighteen inches high, and 

 bear numerous greenish-white flowers dis- 

 posed in terminal clustered panicles. The 

 leaves are used for the same purposes as 

 those of B. Acetosa, and are considered 

 preferable on account of being more suc- 

 culent, with rather less acidity. 



The Sorrels are considered of great im- 

 portance in French cookery, and are both 

 agreeable to eat and very wholesome, al- 

 though but little valued in this country, ex- 

 cept at some of the most fashionable tables. 

 On the Continent sorrel is extensively cul- 

 tivated, and in the vegetable markets of 

 Paris it is nearly as abundant during the 

 season as peas are in those of London. 

 It abounds in oxalic acid, and is regarded 

 as a powerful antiscorbutic. The French 

 have several varieties. [W. B. B.] 



RUMFORDIA. The only species of this 

 genus, B. floribunda, is a handsome oppo- 

 site-leaved Mexican bush of the Composite, 

 related to the North American Heliopsis, 

 and differing chiefly in habit. The whole 

 plant is smooth, and the erect stems, fur- 

 nished with ample glossy leaves, terminate 

 in a panicle of very numerous bright-yel- 

 low flower-heads each about an inch across, 

 and interspersed with oblong bracts. The 

 leaves are ovate, narrowed to the base, 

 shortly pointed, and three-nerved. Each 



