458 
HEXANDRIA. TRIGYNIA. Rumex. 
(4) Flowers dioecious. 
R. aceto'sa. Leaves oblong, arrow-shaped : (permanent petals tuber- 
culated. E.) 
Sheldr. 57 — E. Bot. 127 — Blackw. 230 — Woodv. 69 —Park. 742. left hand 
figure; — Pet. 3. 1 —Fuchs . 464 — Trag. 315 — J. B. ii. 990. 1 — Matth. 
447 —Bod. 648. 4 —Lob. Ohs. 155. 1— Ic. i. 290. 2—Ger. Em. 396. 1 — 
Park. 742. n. 1 — H. Ox. v. 28. row 1. 1 — Ger. 319. 1 — Muni. Brit. 174 ; 
and Phyt. 73— Louie. 88. 2. 
( Plant one to two feet high. Stem leafy, striated. Lower leaves stalked. 
Upper leaves, narrower, sessile. Stipula interior, tubular, membranous, 
fringed. Clusters erect, whorled, leafless. Fertile fiowers the more red. 
Sm. E.) Leafstalks purplish. Blossom reddish. ( Lobes at the base of 
the leaves always pointing backwards. E.) 
Common Sorrel. Sorrel Dock. (Scotch: The Sowruck. Irish: Keiro - 
gath. Welsh: Suran y waun. Gaelic: Sealbhag. E.) Meadows and 
pastures. P. June • 
(R. acetosei/la. Leaves spear-halberd-shaped: permanent petals 
without tubercles. E.) 
{Curt. 29. E.)— Blackw. 307— {FI. Dan. 1161— E. 1Sot. 1674. E.)— Trag. 
316— J. B. ii. >992. 1— Dod. 650. 1 —Lob. Obs. 156. 1— Ic. i. 291. 2—Ger. 
Em. 397. 3— Park. 744. 13— H. Ox. v. 28. 12 —Pet. 3. 2—Munt. Brit. 
189. 2; Phyt. 76. 2; Brit. 182; Phyt. 77—Matth. 448 —Ger. 320. 3— 
Park. 744. 15— H. Ox. Ib. 11— Pet. 3. 4— Zanon. 5. 
(Not more than half the size of R. acetosa , and differs from it likewise in 
having the segments of the calyx entire and all destitute of grains. 
Upper leaves mostly lanceolate ; lower ones hastate; all turning red in 
autumn, Sm. especially when growing in a dry sandy soil. E.) The lobes 
at the base of the leaves point upwards or horizontally; in the preceding 
species they always point backwards. Flowers reddish. 
It is subject to some slight variations in the shape of the leaves, as repre- 
presented in Ger. 321. 6 and 7. and Ger. Em. 398. 6. 
Sheep’s Sorrel or Dock. (Scotch: Sheep's Sowruck. Welsh: Dringol ,* 
Suran yr yd. E.) Sandy meadows, pastures, gravel walks. 
P. May—July.t 
* The leaves, which are powerfully acid, are eaten in sauces and salads. (It is called 
Green-sauce , as Deering says, because “ the country people beat the herb to mash, and, 
mixed with vinegar and sugar, eat it as sauce for roasted meat. E.) The Laplanders use 
them to turn milk sour. In France they are cultivated for the use of the table, being intro¬ 
duced into soups, ragouts, and fricasees. In some parts of Ireland they are eaten with milk. 
The Irish also eat them with fish, and other alkalescent food. The dried root gives out a 
beautiful red colour when boiled. A salt, sold for Salt of Lemons, is prepared in Germany 
from the expressed juice of this plant, and is imported into England in considerable quan¬ 
tity. The mucilaginous parts are separated by water mixed with pipe-clay, and two or 
three crystallizations render the salt sufficiently pure. (Neither horses, cows, goats, sheep, 
nor swine eat it, unless pressed by necessity. It is a valuable observation, that this and 
the following species indicate a soil surcharged with acids, requiring lime or other calcareous 
manure to correct the evil and improve the pasture. E.) Aphis s&etosce feeds upon it. 
*|* (Possessed of astringency and acidity like the preceding; but its smaller size 
causes it to be neglected. E.) Phalcena fuliginosa, Atriplicis , and Rumicis, (Coreus 
marginatus, Apian violaceum , E.) and Mcloe Proscarabceus, are found upon the different 
species of this genus. 
