THE PERSICARIA FAMILY 
129 
though the midrib is sometimes thickened ; and the leaves rather wavy and but slightly crisped, 
often 9-10 inches long. 
Rather common. By streams and ditches and in wet meadows ; in the north of England and in 
Scotland. July — August. Perennial. 
10. Great Water Dock. (Rumex Hydrolap'athum. Huds.) — A large handsome species 
with perfect, green flowers in a long, dense, narrow, branched cluster (panicle), only leafy at the 
base ; the enlarged perianth-lobes egg-shaped (ovate), entire or slightly toothed, netted with 
prominent veins, all 3 lobes with a large oblong wart on the back. [As described in the genus 
Dock (Rumex).] The stem 3-6 feet high, erect, smooth, and slightly branched ; and the leaves 
lance-shaped and pointed, the margins either flat or minutely wavy or crisped, the root-leaves 
often more than a foot long and on long flat stalks. The whole plant is smooth and of a dull 
green colour. 
Common. By streams, rivers, and pools ; throughout England and Ireland though rather local 
rare in Scotland. July — August. Perennial. 
11. Rumex max'imus. Schreb. — A species very similar to the last, differing in the 
enlarged perianth-lobes being heart-shaped (cordate) at the base, with toothed margins ; and the 
root-leaves also heart-shaped at the base and on long flat stalks with raised edges. 
Rare. By streams, rivers, and pools ; near Lewes, Winchester, Kelvedon in Essex, and in the 
Scilly Isles. July — August. Perennial. 
12. *Monk’s Rhubarb. (Rumex alpinus. Linn.) — Flowers green, imperfect, some 
without stamens (female) and some without pistils (male) on the same plant (monoecious), in 
crowded distant clusters (whorls) up the stem and its numerous erect branches (panicles), leafless 
except at the base ; the enlarged perianth-lobes are egg-shaped (ovate), heart-shaped (cordate) at 
the base, entire or slightly toothed, and without warts. [As described in the genus Dock 
(Rumex).] The stem is 2-4 feet high ; the leaves are roundish, deeply heart-shaped (cordate) 
at the base, with flat or wavy margins, on long channelled stalks, except the uppermost, which 
are shortly stalked and lance-shaped ; and the root is very thick and was formerly used in 
medicine. The plant was cultivated for that reason and as a pot-herb. 
Not native, rare. An escape from cultivation, near cottages, chiefly found in Scotland. July — 
August. Perennial. 
13. Common Sorrel. (Rumex Aeetosa. Linn.) — Flowers green tinged with bright 
crimson, imperfect, without stamens (female) on one plant and without pistils (male) on another 
(dioecious), in small leafless clusters up the stem and branches of a slightly branched stem 
(panicle) ; the outer perianth-lobes reflexed in fruit and the inner perianth-lobes roundish, heart- 
shaped (cordate) at the base, entire, but slightly enlarged, and with a minute scale-like wart at the 
base. [As described in the genus Dock (Rumex).] The stem is 1-2 feet high, only the flower- 
cluster (panicle) branched ; the leaves are chiefly from the root, oblong, and arrow-shaped 
(sagittate), the lower on long stalks and the uppermost stalkless (sessile) and clasping the stem ; 
and the sheathing stipules are brown and eventually toothed. The plant is a very well known one : 
in England it is only children who search for it and eat its pleasantly acid leaves, but abroad it is 
largely used in salad ; its roots yield a strong poison. \Plate 42. 
Very common. In meadows and cultivated and waste ground ; throughout England, Scotland, 
and Ireland. May — August. Perennial. 
14. ^French Sorrel. (Rumex scutatus. Linn.) — Not a native. A species which is 
naturalised in a few places where it has been grown as a pot-herb. The inner perianth-lobes are 
white tinged with pink and without warts, the leaves are fleshy halbert-shaped (hastate), somewhat 
