132 
RUMEX 
Perennial. Root long and tapering. Stem 3 — 8 dm. high, little branched, glabrous. Ochreae 
elongate. Petioles of the ground-leaves longer than the laminae. Laminae of the ground-leaves 
ovate-sagittate, rather thick ; of the stem-leaves and inflorescence sessile. Inflorescence branched, 
branches ascending, whorls distant. Flozuers dioecious or polygamous ; May to August. Perianth — 
outer segments soon reflexed, inner ones enlarged in fruit. Fruiting segments ovate-obtuse, entire, 
larger than and enclosing the achene, reddish, each with a pale elongate tubercle. Achenes dark 
brown. 
Damp roadsides, meadows and pastures, hedgebanks, natural grassland, woods, marshes ; of 
calcifugous and nitrophilous tendencies. Common ? throughout the British Isles; ascending to 
1040 m. in co. Kerry. 
Europe, from Nova Zembla southwards; Asia Minor; Caucasus; Trans-Caucasia; Himalaya 
region; northern Asia; North and South America; Greenland. Ascends to 2130m. in Switzerland. 
Series iii. A cetosellae 
Acetosellae nobis; Acetosella Meisner in Martius FI. Brasil, v, pt. i, 10 (1855) as a section; in DC. 
Prodr. xiv, 63 (1856) as a section; Rouy FI. France xii, 81 (1910) as a section; Ascherson und Graebner 
Syn. iv, 782 (1912) as a section. 
For characters, see page 130. Only British species: — R. acetosella. 
3. RUMEX ACETOSELLA. Sheep’s Sorrel. Plate 140 
Oxalis tenuifolia Gerard Herb. 320 (1597); Acetosa minor lanceolata Parkinson Theatr. Bot. 744 (1640); 
Lapatlmm acetosum repens lanceolatum Ray Syn. ed. 3, 143 (1724). 
Rumex acetosella L. Sp. PI. 338 (1753)!; Syme Eng. Bot. viii,. 56 (1868); Rouy FI. France xii, 81 
(1910); Ascherson und Graebner Syn. iv, 782 (1912); Acetosa acetosella Miller Gard. Diet. ed. 8, no. 2 (1768). 
leones: — Curtis FI. Lond. ii, t. 77; Smith Eng. Bot. t. 1674!; Beck in Reichenbach Icon, xxiv, t. 192. 
Camb. Brit. Ft. ii. Plate ipo. 0 ) Shoot with pistillate flowers. (b) Ground-leaves and rhizomes. 
(c) Staminate branches, (d) Staminate flower (enlarged), (e) Pistillate flowers (enlarged). (/) Ripening ovaries 
(enlarged). Huntingdonshire (E. W. H.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 2133 et 2133 his; Welwitsch, 410; Herb. FI. Ingric. iv, 535. 
Perennial. Rhizomes shallow, horizontal, much branched, often very extensive. Aerial stems 
erect, 1 — 4 dm. high. Ochreae ultimately membranous, with a terminal lanceolate appendage, 
fimbriate. Petioles of the ground-leaves very long. Laminae of the ground-leaves hastate to lanceolate 
or even linear ; when hastate, with lobes acute and sometimes bifid or multifid. Inflorescence leaf- 
less. Pedicels short. Flowers from May to July. Perianth- segments brownish-red, not increasing 
much in fruit, all becoming more or less closely appressed to the achene, with a slight thickening 
at the base of the midrib. 
The British forms of Rumex acetosella require further study before it is possible to describe them satisfactorily. In 
addition to certain growth-forms with narrow leaves, which occur on very dry soils, Ostenfeld (in New Phyt. xi, 124 (1912)) 
indicates that we have two forms, one northern and one southern. Whether or not each of these forms has its narrow- 
leaved state we are not able to state. 
v 
(a) R. acetosella var. gymnocarpus Celakowski in Sitzungsb. Bohn. Gesellsch. Wissensch. 402 (1892); R. 
acetosella Rouy FI. France xii, 81 (1910) excl. race angiocarpus p. 82. 
Perianth-segments shorter than the achene, appressed to it, but separated from it without 
difficulty by rubbing. 
West Riding of Yorkshire, Lancashire, and doubtless elsewhere. Probably more northern in its distribution 
than var. angiocarpus. 
Europe. 
V 
(b) R. acetosella var. angiocarpus Celakowski in ibid. 402 (1892); R. acetosella race angiocarpus Rouy 
Ft. France xii, 82 (1910); Ascherson und Graebner Syn. iv, 787 (1912). 
More glaucous than var. gymnocarpus , at least when young. Perianth- segments as long as 
the achene, closely appressed to it, and with difficulty separated from it by rubbing. 
Cornwall, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, and doubtless elsewhere. Probably more 
southern in its distribution than the preceding variety. 
Europe. 
