BUCKWHEAT FAMILY. 



157 



8. R. crispus L. Curly Dock. Stoutish, commonly 2 ft. high; 

 leaves bluish-green, xevy wavy-margined or crisped, elliptical to 

 oblong-lanceolate, the base often somewhat decurrent upon the petiole, 

 10 in long or less; flowering branches strict, with few leaves, the 

 whorls dense and mostly crowded; pedicels twice as long as the fruit, 

 tumidly jointed near the base; inner fruiting sepals broadly ovate, 

 scarcely cordate, 2 to 2£ lines long, all with smooth callous grains. 



Very common naturalized weed in neglected lands. May-June. 



4. R. conglomeratus Murr. Green Dock. Stems slender, 

 mostly clustered, 3 to 4 ft. high; leaves ovate or mostly oblong, 

 slightly undulate, 4 in. long, reduced above; flowering branches 

 slender, the whorls remote, with a lanceolate or ovate leaf subtending 

 every whorl or almost naked; pedicels slender about as long as the 

 fruit, tumidly jointed near the base and geniculate; inner fruiting 

 sepals oblong, f to 1£ lines long, callous grains mostly 3 and smooth. 



Naturalized. Very abundant in low lands about San Francisco 

 Bay, sometimes exclusively occupying several acres. June- Aug. 

 The grain is very large, nearly covering the fruiting sepal, leaving 

 only a narrow wing; in K. crispus the grain is relatively small and 

 the fruiting sepal large. In both of these species the blade is more or 

 less decurrent upon the petiole; in R. occidentalis not decurrent. 

 R. conglomeratus is a much more slender and a taller plant than 

 R. crispus. 



•">. R. salicifolius Weinm. Willow-leaved Dock. Com- 

 monly tufted, 2 ft. high; leaves plane, glaucous, lanceolate, acute at 

 both ends, petiolate, 1£ to 4 in. long, including the short petiole; 

 flowering branchlets short, about 2 in. long and the lateral mostly 

 divaricate; whorls dense, crowded, leafless, or 1 or 2 lower whorls 

 remote and leafy; pedicels rather shorter than the fruit, jointed near 

 the base and recurved but not geniculate; inner fruiting sepals 

 triangular-ovate, 1 to 2 lines long, the callous grains variable in 

 number, smooth or pitted. 



Not so common as R. crispus but found throughout California in 

 valley lands. May easily he recognized by its glaucous willow-like 

 foliage. 



6. R. pulcher L. Fiddle Dock. Stem slender but rigid, 

 widely branched above, the branches zigzag; leaves oblong or fiddle- 

 shaped, 3 to 5 j in. long, petiolate; flowering branches simple, divari- 

 cate, sparsely leafy, the dense whorls remote; pedicels stout, about 

 equaling the fruit, tumidly jointed in the middle; inner fruiting sepals 

 with 5 to 10 awn-like teeth on each side, one sepal often larger than 

 others; callous grain often solitary. 



Common naturalized wayside weed, readily recognized by its zig- 

 zag branches. June. 



7. R. obtusifolius L. Bitter Dock. Tall, slender, 3 ft. high 

 or more; leaves ovate-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, somewhat undulate, 

 acute or obtuse, truncate or cordate at base, 6 in. long or less, long- 



