710 



THE POLYGONUM FAMILY. 



5. Clustered Dock. 



Rumex conglomerates, Murr. 

 (Fig. 854.) 



(E. acutus, Eng. Bot. t. 724.) 



Resembles in many respects the red- 

 veined D., of which it may be a tall, 

 luxuriant variety, showing someapproach 

 to the water D. Stem 2 to 3 feet high. 

 Leaves often pointed, as in the water D., 

 but more waved on the edges, and the 

 lower ones often rounded or even cor- 

 date at the base. Panicle with spread- 

 ing branches and distinct whorls, as in 

 the red-veined _D., but larger. Inner 

 perianth-segments narrow-ovate, rather 

 larger than in the red-veined _D., and 

 usually all three equal, with an oblong 

 tubercle upon each. 



In meadows, pastures, and waste 

 places, usually in richer and wetter si- 

 tuations than the red-veined D., widely 

 spread over Europe and central and 

 Russian Asia, except the extreme north, 

 and apparently naturalized in many 

 Generally distributed over Britain, but 

 not always readily distinguished from the red-veined D. Fl. summer. 



Fig. 854. 

 other parts of the world. 



6. Red-veined Dock. Rumex sanguineus, Linn. 

 (Fig. 855.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1533.) 



Stem not so tall as in most of the preceding species, seldom above 2 

 feet, and more branched. Radical leaves oblong or lanceolate, some- 

 times cordate at the base, waved on the edges, and sometimes narrowed 

 in the middle as in the fiddle D, Panicle leafy at the base, with stiff, 

 though slender, very spreading branches ; the whorls of flowers all 

 distinct. Pedicels shorter than in the foregoing, but longer than in 

 the following species. Fruiting perianths small ; the inner segments 

 narrow, and entire or scarcely toothed, one about 1^ lines long, with a 

 large tubercle, the two others usually smaller, without any or only a 

 very small tubercle. 



