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heartwing dock, heartwing sorrel, wild dock, wild sorrel

cluster dock, cluster or cluster green dock, green dock, sharp dock

Habit Plants annual or short-lived perennial, glabrous, with vertical rootstock. Plants perennial, normally glabrous, rarely very indistinctly papillose on veins of leaf blades abaxially, with fusiform, vertical rootstock.
Stems

solitary or several from base, erect or ascending, branched in distal 2/3 (in inflorescence), 10–40(–45) cm.

erect, branched in distal 2/3 (sometimes with few flowering stems from rootstock), 30–80(–120) cm.

Leaves

blade obovate-oblong, ovate-lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate, or lanceolate; 2–6(–10) × 0.5–2 cm, base hastate (with spreading lobes), auriculate, or occasionally without evident lobes, margins entire, flat, apex obtuse or subacute.

ocrea deciduous to partially persistent at maturity;

blade oblong-lanceolate, obovate-lanceolate, or lanceolate, normally (5–)10–30 × 2.5–6 cm, base broadly cuneate, rounded, or truncate, rarely subcordate, margins entire, flat to very weakly undulate, apex subacute, occasionally obtuse.

Inflorescences

terminal, occupying distal 2/3 of stem, usually lax and interrupted, narrowly paniculate.

terminal, occupying distal 2/3 of stem, lax, interrupted, broadly paniculate, branches simple or nearly so, almost all but distalmost whorls with subtending leaves;

panicle leafy at least in proximal 2/3 of length.

Pedicels

articulated in proximal part, filiform, 1.5–2.5(–3) mm, articulation indistinct or slightly swollen.

articulated in proximal 1/3 or occasionally near middle, filiform, 1–4(–5) mm, ca. as long as inner tepals or slightly longer, articulation distinctly swollen.

Flowers

3–6(–8) in whorls;

inner tepals orbiculate or broadly ovate, 2.5–3.2 × 2.7–3.2 mm, base broadly cordate or rounded, apex obtuse or subacute;

tubercles absent or some inner tepals with slightly swollen central veins.

10–20 in dense remote whorls;

inner tepals oblong-lanceolate, oblong, or lingulate, 2–3 × 1–1.6(–2) mm, ca. 2 times as long as wide, base cuneate or truncate, margins entire, apex obtuse;

tubercles 3, equal or subequal, largest tubercle almost as wide as inner tepal.

Achenes

brown or dark brown, 0.9–1.2 × 0.6–0.8 mm.

usually dark reddish brown, 1.5–1.8 × 1–1.4 mm.

2n

= 8 (pistillate plants), 9 (staminate plants), 10 (both sexes).

= 20.

Rumex hastatulus

Rumex conglomeratus

Phenology Flowering spring–summer. Flowering early summer–early fall.
Habitat Dry to moist alluvial and ruderal habitats, river valleys, sandy plains, meadows, waste places Marshes, wet meadows, shores, alluvial woods, ditches, wet waste places
Elevation 0-500 m (0-1600 ft) 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NY; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MO; MS; NC; NY; OK; OR; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WA; WV; BC; Europe; w Asia; sw Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced elsewhere]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Rumex hastatulus is distinct in subg. Acetosa and belongs to the monotypic subsect. Americanae Á. Löve & N. Sarkar. It is represented by at least two chromosome races: populations occurring from North Carolina to Florida and Mississippi normally have 2n = 8 in pistillate plants and 2n = 9 in staminate plants; populations from Louisiana to Texas and Oklahoma predominantly have 2n = 10 in both sexes. Rumex hastatulus has been reported from New Mexico (W. C. Martin and C. R. Hutchins 1980, vol. 1), but those records need confirmation. When fruiting, R. hastatulus has large inner tepals that distinguish it from R. acetosella, with which it is occasionally confused.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Rumex conglomeratus often is confused with immature specimens of R. obtusifolius, as well as with other species (e.g., R. sanguineus). Its distribution in North America is insufficiently known, and some literature records may refer to R. obtusifolius.

Rumex conglomeratus and R. sanguineus were placed in subsect. Conglomerati Rechinger f. (K. H. Rechinger 1937).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 502. FNA vol. 5, p. 524.
Parent taxa Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Rumex > subg. Acetosa Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Rumex > subg. Rumex > sect. Rumex
Sibling taxa
R. acetosa, R. acetosella, R. alpinus, R. altissimus, R. arcticus, R. beringensis, R. britannica, R. brownii, R. bucephalophorus, R. californicus, R. chrysocarpus, R. confertus, R. conglomeratus, R. crassus, R. crispus, R. cristatus, R. cuneifolius, R. densiflorus, R. dentatus, R. ellipticus, R. fascicularis, R. floridanus, R. fueginus, R. graminifolius, R. hesperius, R. hymenosepalus, R. kerneri, R. krausei, R. lacustris, R. lapponicus, R. longifolius, R. maritimus, R. mexicanus, R. nematopodus, R. obovatus, R. obtusifolius, R. occidentalis, R. orthoneurus, R. pallidus, R. palustris, R. paraguayensis, R. patientia, R. paucifolius, R. persicarioides, R. praecox, R. pseudonatronatus, R. pulcher, R. pycnanthus, R. salicifolius, R. sanguineus, R. sibiricus, R. spiralis, R. stenophyllus, R. subarcticus, R. thyrsiflorus, R. tomentellus, R. transitorius, R. triangulivalvis, R. utahensis, R. venosus, R. verticillatus, R. violascens
R. acetosa, R. acetosella, R. alpinus, R. altissimus, R. arcticus, R. beringensis, R. britannica, R. brownii, R. bucephalophorus, R. californicus, R. chrysocarpus, R. confertus, R. crassus, R. crispus, R. cristatus, R. cuneifolius, R. densiflorus, R. dentatus, R. ellipticus, R. fascicularis, R. floridanus, R. fueginus, R. graminifolius, R. hastatulus, R. hesperius, R. hymenosepalus, R. kerneri, R. krausei, R. lacustris, R. lapponicus, R. longifolius, R. maritimus, R. mexicanus, R. nematopodus, R. obovatus, R. obtusifolius, R. occidentalis, R. orthoneurus, R. pallidus, R. palustris, R. paraguayensis, R. patientia, R. paucifolius, R. persicarioides, R. praecox, R. pseudonatronatus, R. pulcher, R. pycnanthus, R. salicifolius, R. sanguineus, R. sibiricus, R. spiralis, R. stenophyllus, R. subarcticus, R. thyrsiflorus, R. tomentellus, R. transitorius, R. triangulivalvis, R. utahensis, R. venosus, R. verticillatus, R. violascens
Synonyms Acetosa hastatula, R. engelmannii R. acutus
Name authority Baldwin: in S. Elliott, Sketch Bot. S. Carolina 1: 416. (1817) Murray: Prodr. Stirp. Gott., 52. (1770)
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