440 :T R U M E X. 
RUMELIA. See Romagna. 
RUMEN, s. The first stomach of ruminating animals. 
RUMEX, [of Pliny, &c.; \ahta,9ov, Gr. a rumpo, aut 
rupo ; or rather from rutno, sugo. Vossius .] In Botany, 
a genus of the class hexandria, order trigynia, natural order 
of holoraceae, polygotiese (Juss.) — Generic] Character. 
Calyx: perianth, three-leaved; leaflets obtuse, reflex, per¬ 
manent. Corolla: petals three, ovate, bigger than the calyx, 
and like it, converging, permanent. Stamina: filaments 
six, capillary, very short; anthers erect, twin. Pistils: 
germ turbinate-three-sided; styles three, capillary, reflexed, 
standing out between the clefts of the converging petals ; 
stigmas large, laciniate. Pericarp none; corolla converg¬ 
ing, three-sided, inclosing the seed. Seed single, three- 
sided.—Rumex digynus excludes one-third part of the num¬ 
ber in all parts of the fructification except the stamens. The 
acetosae have the male and female flowers on separate plants. 
Rumex spinosus has flowers of both sexes on the same plant, 
with the female perianths hooked. Rumex alpinus is poly¬ 
gamous. In some species a callose grain is fastened exter¬ 
nally to the valves of the petals .—Essential Character. 
Calyx three-leaved. Petals three, converging. Seed one, 
three-sided. 
I. Hermaphrodites; having the valves marked with a grain. 
1. Rumex patientia, patience dock or rhubarb.—Flowers 
hermaphrodite; valves quite entire, one of them graniferous, 
leaves ovate-lanceolate.—Patience dock has a large root, di¬ 
viding into many thick fibres, which run downwards; the 
bark is brown, but the inside is yellow, with some reddish 
veins. Stems from four to six feet high, dividing towards 
the top into several erect branches, having a few narrow 
leaves on them, and terminated by spikes of large flowers, 
which appear in June.—Native of Italy, Hesse and some 
other parts of Germany. 
2. Rumex sanguineus, bloody-veined dock,or bloodwort.— 
Flowers hermaphrodite; valves quite entire, oblong, one 
chiefly graniferous; leaves cordate-lanceolate; root fusiform; 
stem upright, branched, angular, leafy, smooth.—It is said 
by Linnaeus to be a native of Virginia, whence it migrated 
to England, and was first observed by Merret, in woody 
places about Hampstead. 
3. Rumex spatulatus, or spatula-leaved dock.—Leaves 
obovate obtuse ; valves graniferous.—Found at the Cape of 
Good Hope. 
4. Rumex verticillatus, or whorl-flowered dock.—Flowers 
hermaphrodite; valves quite entire, all graniferous; leaves 
lanceolate; sheaths cylindrical; flowers heaped in whorls at 
the joints.—Native of Virginia. 
5. Rumex Britannica, or Virginian dock.—Flowers herm¬ 
aphrodite ; valves quite entire, all graniferous; leaves lanceo¬ 
late, sheathes obsolete. The root is black or yellow on the 
outside and saffron-coloured within.—Native of Virginia. 
6. Rumex crispus, or curled dock.—Flowers hermaphro¬ 
dite ; valves ovate, entire, all graniferous. Curled dock has 
a fusiform yellow root. Stem angular, grooved, smoothish. 
Leaves waved and curled about the edge. Racemes not very 
spreading, but close and thick together, somewhat leafy 
towards the base.—Native of Europe, Siberia, Cochinchina, 
•&c. 
7. Rumex persicarioides, or persicaria dock.—Flow¬ 
ers hermaphrodite; valves toothed, awl-shaped at the tip, all 
graniferous.—This is an annual plant, a span high, and very 
much branched. Leaves petioled, waved, entire. The 
valves of the flower have three long teeth on each side, all 
covered with large pale grains.—Native of Virginia. 
8. Rumex iEgyptius, or Egyptian dock.—Flowers herm¬ 
aphrodite; valves trifid-setaceous, one graniferous; leaves 
oblong. This also is an annual plant, about ten inches high. 
The flowers grow in whorls round the stalks, are very small, 
and the hair-like beards which adhere to the covering of the 
seed, being long, obscure the flowers, so that they are 
scarcely visible to the naked eye.—It grows naturally in 
Egypt. 
9. Rumex dentatus, or dentated dock.—Flowers herm¬ 
aphrodite; valves toothed, lanceolate at the tip, all granife¬ 
rous ; leaves lanceolate; root annual; stem almost upright, 
a span high, roundish, branched at the base; flowers clus¬ 
tered, lateral.—Native of Egypt. 
10. Rumex acutus, or sharp-leaved dock.—Flowers herm¬ 
aphrodite ; valves oblong, somewhat toothed, all graniferous:; 
leaves cordate-oblong, acuminate ; racemes leafy ; root per¬ 
ennial; stem angular, grooved, smooth, rather flexuose ; 
flowers male, female, and hermaphrodite ; some of the males 
having twelve stamens.—Native of Europe, in woods, edges, 
by road sides, in watery places aud marshes. 
11. Rumex obtusifolius, or blunt-leaved dock.—Flowers 
hermaphrodite; valves toothed, one chiefly graniferous; 
root-leaves cordate, blunt; stem somewhat rugged.—The 
root of the common broad-leaved or blunt-leaved dock runs 
deeply and straightly into the earth, tapering, the thickness 
of the middle finger, on the outside of a dirty brown colour; 
within yellowish. Stem three feet high, upright, branched. 
Racemes nearly upright, furnished with few leaves. Flowers 
in half-whorls, on capillary peduncles, sprinkled near the 
top with white shining globules; and the pedicels surrounded 
near the base by an indistinct, cartilaginous ring.—Native of 
Europe, in all sorts of cultivated ground. 
12. Rumex pulcer, or fiddle-dock.—Flowers hermaphro¬ 
dite ; valves toothed, one chiefly graniferous; root-leaves 
viol-shaped; stem smooth, divaricate; racemes leafy.—Found 
in Italy. 
13. Rumex maritimus, or golden dock.—Flowers herm¬ 
aphrodite ; valves deltoid, setaceous-toothed, graniferous; 
leaves linear; whorls clustered; root perennial, consisting of 
twisted fibres, as in many water plants.—Native of several 
parts of Europe, in marshes, especially on the sea-coast. 
14. Rumex palustris, or yellow marsh-dock.—Flowers 
hermaphrodite; valves lanceolate, graniferous, toothed at 
the base; leaves linear-lanceolate; whorls distant;- root 
tapering, reddish brown on the outside, bright red within ; 
stem from two to three feet high, branched, of a reddish 
colour, grooved and somewhat rugged. — Common about 
London. 
II. Hermaphrodites ; having the valves destitute 
of a grain, or naked. 
15. Rumex aquaticus, or water dock.—Flowers herm¬ 
aphrodite ; valves ovate, entire, naked; leaves cordate- 
lanceolate, acute. — The great vrater dock has large roots 
which strike deep in the mud, and send out leaves three feet 
long, and four inches broad, in the middle. The flower's 
stand upon slender peduncles which are reflexed ; they are 
of an herbaceous colour, and appear in June. The seeds 
ripen in Autumn.—Native of Europe, in ditches, pools, and 
on the banks of streams. 
16. Rumex bucephalophorus, or basil-leaved dock.— 
Flowers hermaphrodite; valves toothed, naked; pedicels 
flat, reflexed, incrassated.—This is a low, annual plant, 
with slender stalks, branching at the bottom and about four 
inches high.—Native of Spain and Italy on moist swampy 
ground. -x 
17. Rumex lunaria, or tree sorrel.—Flowers hermaphro¬ 
dite ; valves even ; leaves sub-cordate; stem arboreous.— 
The sorrel tree rises with a -woody stalk ten or twelve feet 
high, covered with a smooth brown bark, and sending out 
many branches. The flowers come out in loose panicles 
towards the end of the branches.—Native of the Canary 
Islands. 
18. Rumex vesicarius, bladder dock, or sorrel.—Flowers 
hermaphrodite, geminate; all the valves very large, mem¬ 
branaceous, reflexed ; leaves undivided. This is an annual 
plant, with pretty thick succulent stalks,'a foot high, and 
dividing into many branches. The flowers grow in loose 
spikes at the end of the branches : they are herbaceous.— 
Native of Africa. 
19. Rumex roseus, or rose dock.—Flowers hermaphrodite, 
distinct; the wing of one of the valves very large, membrana¬ 
ceous, netted, leaves gnawn. This is an annual plant, 
rising a foot and half high, and dividing at top into several 
branches. 
