a! THE POLYGONUM FAMILY. 
may be readily distributed into two distinct sections, Rumes proper 
and Acetosa. 
Leaves never hastate at the base (though often cordate, with 
eee y auricles). Flowers mostly hermaphrodite (RU- 
MEX 
Inner perianth-segments entire, or with one or two scarcely 
perceptible teeth. 
Segments broadly ovate, more or less cordate. Panicle 
narrow and crowded when in fruit. 
No tubercle on any of the perianth-segments . . Ll. R. aquaticus. 
A tubercle on one at least of the perianth-segments . 2. R. crispus. 
Segments ovate, not cordate. 
Tall water-plant. Lower leaves above a foot long. 
Panicle erect. A tubercle on all three perianth- ‘ 
segments . : f : : : . 4. R. Hydrolapathum. 
Plant seldom above 3 feet. Lower leaves not a foot. 
Panicle very spreading. Perianths small. 
A tubercle on all three perianth-segments ‘ . 5 R. conglomeratus. 
A tubercle on one segment only . 6. A. sanguineus. 
Inner perianth-segments toothed on the edge, one at least of 
the teeth ending in a fine point. 
Panicle erect. Pedicels longer than the perianth . 3. R. obtusifolius. 
Panicle very spreading. Pedicels shorter than the fruit- 
ing perianth. 
Leaves chiefly radical. Pedicels thickened. Teeth of 
the perianth-segments stiff and short . 7. R. pulcher. 
Panicle leafy. Perianths densely clustered with long 
fine teeth to the segments : 8. R. maritimus. 
Leaves, at least the lower ones, hastate (with acute auricles), 
Flowers mostly unisexual (SORRELS). 
Leaves oblong or broadly lanceolate. Inner segments of 
the fruiting perianth enlarged and orbicular > 9, R. Acetosa. 
Leaves narrow lanceolate or linear. Inner segments of the 
fruiting perianth not enlarged , ; : : . 10. R. Acetosella. 
Besides the above, R. alpinus, Linn., from the mountains of con- 
tinental Europe, formerly cultivated for its root, a very broad-leaved 
species of true Rumex, with entire, grainless perianth-segments, and 
the French Sorrel (R. scutatus), also a common plant in Continental 
mountains, sometimes cultivated as a Sorrel, have both been met with 
occasionally in Scotland or northern England, near the gardens from 
which they had escaped, but neither of them appears to be really 
established in Britain. 
1. R. aquaticus, Linn. (fig. 858). Smooth-Fruited D.—Closely re- 
sembles the larger and denser-flowered forms of &. crispus, of which 
it may be a luxuriant variety. The leaves are usually not so much 
crisped, sometimes nearly flat, and often 9 or 10 inches long and full 
3 inches broad; the panicle long and much crowded; but the chief 
difference is in the inner segments of the fruiting perianth, which are 
of the same shape, but have no tubercle, although a slight thickening 
of the midrib may be sometimes observed. 
In rather rich and moist situations, in northern and Arctic Europe, 
Asia, and America, and in the mountains of central Europe. In Britain, 
confined to Scotland and the north of England. JV. summer. 
2. R. crispus, Linn. (fig. 859). Ourled D.—Stem 2 to 3 feet high, 
with but few branches, usually short, and seldom spreading. Radical — 
leaves long and narrow, usually much waved or crisped at the edges, — 
and about 6 to’8 inches long, but varying much in size; the upper ones — 
smaller and narrower gradually passing into mere bracts. Whorls of 
