Part 145 (1/2)

Calyx of 6 sepals; the 3 outer herbaceous, sometimes united at base, spreading in fruit; the 3 inner larger, somewhat colored, enlarged after flowering (in fruit called _valves_) and convergent over the 3-angled achene, veiny, often bearing a grain-like tubercle on the back. Stamens 6. Styles 3; stigmas tufted. Embryo slightly curved lying along one side of the alb.u.men, slender.--Coa.r.s.e herbs, with small and homely (mostly green) flowers, which are crowded and commonly whorled in panicled racemes; the petioles somewhat sheathing at base. (The ancient Latin name; of unknown etymology.)

-- 1. LaPATHUM. (DOCK.) _Flowers perfect or monciously polygamous; herbage not sour or scarcely so; none of the leaves halberd-shaped.

(Flowering through the summer.)_

[*] _Perennials, 1--7 high, mostly with fusiform roots; valves not bearing bristles._

[+] _Valves (large, 3” broad or more, thin) all naked or one with a small grain._

R. PATIeNTIA, L. (PATIENCE DOCK.) A very tall species, with ovate-oblong and lanceolate leaves (broadest above the base), those from the root 2--3 long, and one of the heart-shaped nearly or quite entire valves (3” broad) bearing a small grain, or its midrib thickened at base.--N. Eng and N. Y. (Adv. from Eu.)

1. R. vensus, Pursh. Stems from running rootstocks, erect (1 high or less), with conspicuous dilated stipules; leaves on short but rather slender petioles, ovate or oblong to lanceolate (3--6'; long), acute or ac.u.minate, only the lowest obtuse at base; panicle nearly sessile, short, dense in fruit; valves entire, glandless, broadly cordate with a deep sinus, 9--12” in diameter, bright rose-color.--Sask. to central Mo. and Kan., and westward.

[+][+] _Valves smaller, one or more of them conspicuously grain-bearing._

[++] _Indigenous; leaves not wavy, none heart-shaped, except the lowest of n. 5._

2. R. Britannica, L. (GREAT WATER-DOCK.) Tall and stout (5--6 high); leaves oblong-lanceolate, rather acute at both ends, transversely veined, and with obscurely erose-crenulate margins (the lowest, including the petiole, 1--2 long, the middle rarely truncate or obscurely cordate at base); racemes upright in a large compound panicle, nearly leafless; whorls crowded; _pedicels capillary, nodding, about twice the length of the fruiting calyx; the valves...o...b..cular or round-ovate_, very obtuse, obscurely heart-shaped at base, _finely reticulated_, entire or repand-denticulate (2--3” broad), all grain-bearing. (R. orbiculatus, _Gray_.)--Wet places, N. Eng. to N. J., west to Minn, and Kan.

3. R. altissimus, Wood. (PALE DOCK.) Rather tall (2--6 high); _leaves ovate- or oblong-lanceolate_, acute, pale, thickish, obscurely veiny (the cauline 3--6' long, contracted at base into a short petiole); racemes spike-like and panicled, nearly leafless; whorls crowded; _pedicels nodding, shorter than the fruiting calyx; valves broadly ovate_ or obscurely heart-shaped, obtuse or acutish, entire, loosely reticulated (about 2” broad), one with a conspicuous grain, the others with a thickened midrib or naked. (R. Britannica, _Gray_; not _L._)--Moist grounds, N. Y. and N. J. to Minn., and Kan.

4. R. saliciflius, Weinmann. (WHITE DOCK.) Rather low (1--3 high); root white, _leaves narrowly or linear-lanceolate_, or the lowest oblong; whorls much crowded; _pedicels much shorter than the fruiting calyx; valves deltoid-ovate_, obtusish or acutish (about 1” long), one, two or sometimes all with a conspicuous often very large grain; otherwise nearly as n. 3.--Salt marshes, from Newf. to N. Eng., about the Great Lakes, and far westward.

5. R. verticillatus, L. (SWAMP DOCK.) Rather tall (3--5 high); leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, rather obtuse, thickish, pale-green, the lowest often heart-shaped at base; racemes nearly leafless, elongated, loose, the whorls crowded or the lower ones distant; fruit-bearing _pedicels slender, club-shaped, abruptly reflexed, 3--4 times longer than the fruiting calyx; valves dilated-rhomboid, obtusely somewhat pointed, strongly rugose-reticulated_, each bearing a very large grain.--Wet swamps, common.

[++][++] _Naturalized European weeds; lower leaves mostly heart-shaped at base._

R. CRiSPUS, L. (CURLED DOCK.) Smooth (3--4 high); _leaves with strongly wavy-curled margins, lanceolate_, acute, the lower truncate or scarcely heart-shaped at base; _whorls crowded in prolonged wand-like racemes, leafless above; valves round-heart-shaped, obscurely denticulate_ or entire, mostly all grain-bearing.--In cultivated and waste ground, very common. A hybrid of this with the next is reported from Ma.s.s., N. Y., and Md.

R. OBTUSIFLIUS, L. (BITTER DOCK.) Stem roughish; _lowest leaves ovate-heart-shaped, obtuse_, rather downy on the veins beneath, somewhat wavy-margined, the _upper oblong-lanceolate, acute; whorls loose and distant; valves ovate-halberd-shaped, with some sharp awl-shaped teeth at base_, strongly reticulated, one of them princ.i.p.ally grain-bearing.--Fields, etc., common.

R. SANGUiNEUS, L. _Leaves oblong-lanceolate_, often fiddle shaped, wavy-margined; _whorls distant, in long slender leafless spikes_; pedicels very short, jointed at base; _valves narrowly oblong, obtuse, entire_, one at least grain-bearing; veins of the leaf red, or green.--Waste and cultivated ground.

R. CONGLOMERaTUS, Murray. (SMALLER GREEN DOCK.) Like the last, but leaves not fiddle-shaped, and panicle leafy; pedicels short, jointed below the middle; valves acutish, all grain-bearing.--Moist places.

[*][*] _Annuals, low; valves bearing long awns or bristles._

6. R. maritimus, L. (GOLDEN DOCK.) Minutely p.u.b.escent, diffusely branched, 6--12' high; leaves lance-linear, wavy-margined, the lower auricled or heart-shaped at base; whorls excessively crowded in leafy and compact or interrupted spikes; valves rhombic-oblong, lance-pointed, each bearing 2--3 long awn-like bristles on each side, and a large grain on the back.--Sea-sh.o.r.e, Ma.s.s. to N. C.; also from Ill. to Minn., and westward.

-- 2. ACETSA. (SORREL.) _Flowers dicious, small, in a terminal naked panicle; herbage sour; some leaves halberd-shaped; smooth perennials, spreading by running rootstocks, flowering in spring._

7. R. hastatulus, Baldw. Stem simple, 1--2 high; leaves nearly as in the next; _pedicels jointed at or below the middle; valves of the fruiting calyx round-heart-shaped_, thin, finely reticulated, naked, _many times larger than the achene_. (R. Engelmanni, _Ledeb._)--S. W.

Ill. to E. Kan., Tex., and Fla.; Riverhead, Long Island (_Young_).

R. ACETOSeLLA, L. (FIELD or SHEEP SORREL.) Low (6--12' high); leaves narrow-lanceolate or linear, halberd-form, at least those of the root, the narrow lobes entire; _pedicels jointed with the flower; valves scarcely enlarging in fruit, ovate_, naked.--Abundant everywhere. (Nat.

from Eu.)

R. ACETSA, L. (SORREL DOCK.) Like the last, but taller (1--3 high); leaves oblong or broadly lanceolate; _valves enlarging in fruit and orbicular, the outer reflexed_.--Charlotte, Vt., and Penn Yan, N. Y.

(Nat. from Eu.)

4. POLGONUM, Tourn. KNOTWEED.