1274 
cm. polygonacejE. 
[Rumex. 
Tribe I. Lapathnm. — Mowers all or mostly hermaphrodite, styles terminal; valves 
enlarycd often bearing a grain-like callosity on the back. Leaves never hastate, pinnately- 
veined, rarely very acid. 
Inner perianth-segments with entire margins, one or all bearing a tubercle 
on the midrib. 
Inner perianth-segments broad, mostly cordate. Panicle dense with 
short crowded branches 
Inner perianth-segments narrow. Panicle with elongated branches, the 
clusters of flowers distant 
Inner perianth-segments bordered by long teeth. 
Flower clusters distant along the branches, without floral leaves except 
to the lower one. 
Teeth of the inner perianth-segments five, with revolute points . . . 
Teeth of the inner perianth segments 2 to 4 unequal 
Floral leaves all longer than the flowers. 
Branches erect. Flowers numerous and very small in dense clusters. 
Fruiting perianth small, with a tubercle on each segment .... 
Flowers monoecious. Stems mostly simple, the upper clusters males, 
often without floral leaves, the lower clusters females, mostly axillary . 
1. R. crispus. 
2. R. conglomeratus. 
3. R. Brownii. 
4. R. * obtusifolius. 
5. R. halophilus. 
6. R. bidens. 
Tribe II. Aeetosella. — Flowers dioecious. Styles arising from the angles of the ovary. 
Inner sepals herbaceous ; hardly enlarged in fruit. Leaves hastate or sagittate. 
Small plant with narrow leaves mostly sagittate. Stipules silvery- shining 7. R. aeetosella. 
1. R. crispus (crisped), Linn.; Meissn. in DC. Prod. xiv. 44 ; Benth. FI. 
Austr. v. 263. A perennial with a thick rhizome, and erect furrowed stems 2 to 3ft. 
high, the branches few and short. Radical leaves narrow, usually 6 to 8in. long, 
much undulate and crisped at the edges, the upper ones smaller, passing gradually 
into bracts. Flower-clusters numerous, and when in fruit much crowded into a 
long narrow and dense terminal panicle. Inner segments of the fruiting perianth 
broadly ovate, entire, 2 to 3 lines long, with a coloured tubercle on the midrib. 
Hab.: Southern localities. 
Common in Europe and temperate Asia, and now naturalized in many other parts of the 
globe. The Australian specimens, like others grown in warm and dry climates, have tubercles 
on all three inner perianth-segments. More northern specimens have them frequently only on 
one segment of each perianth.— Benth. 
R. conglomeratus (referring to the clusters of flowers), Murr. ; Meissn. in 
DC. Prod. xiv. 49 ; Benth. FI. Austr. v. 263. An erect perennial of 2 or 3ft. more 
branched than 7?. crispus. Radical leaves on long petioles, mostly acute, rounded 
or even cordate at the base, sometimes 8 to lOin. long, the upper ones smaller. 
Panicle with long rather spreading branches, the clusters of flowers distinct or 
distant even when in fruit. Fruiting perianth smaller than in R. crispus, the 
inner segments narrow-ovate, entire, with an oblong tubercle on the midrib of 
each. — R. acutus , Sm. and some others. 
Ilab.' About Brisbane, C. Stuart ; and many other southern localities. 
Like R. crispus, this species is indigenous in Europe and temperate Asia, and is now 
naturalized in many other parts of the globe. 
3. R= Rrownii (after Dr. R. Brown), Campd. Monogr. Rum. 81; Benth. FI. 
Austr. v. 263. A perennial with a thick rhizome and erect simple or slightly 
branched stems of 1 to 2ft. Radical and lower leaves on long petioles, often 
cordate or hastate, oblong and obtuse, the stem-leaves mostly lanceolate and acute, 
the floral ones reduced to small bracts or quite deficient. Clusters remote, many- 
flowered, forming long simple or slightly-branched racemes, the fruiting pedicels 
slender or thick, 1 to 3 lines long. Inner segments of the fruiting perianth 
broadly triangular, 1-J to 2 lines long, bordered on each side by 4 to 6 bristles, 
much hooked or almost involute at the end, the midrib prominent but without 
any distinct tubercle. — Meissn. in DC. Prod. xiv. 61 ; Hook. f. FI. Tasm. i. 305 ; 
Pi. fimbriatus, R. Br. Prod. 421 not of Poir. 
Hab. Rockhampton, 0‘Shanesy ; almost all over the colony. 
Ou this species may sometimes be found the fungus — Puccinia acetosce. — Schum. 
