Rumex hastatulus
Rumex cristatus
heartwing dock, heartwing sorrel, wild dock, wild sorrel
crested dock, Greek dock
solitary or several from base, erect or ascending, branched in distal 2/3 (in inflorescence), 10–40(–45) cm.
erect, branched from above middle or in distal 2/3, 70–150(–200) cm.
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 or partially persistent at maturity;
blade broadly lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, normally 15–25(–35) × 5–7(–12) cm, base truncate, rounded, or slightly cordate, margins entire, undulate or weakly crisped, occasionally flat, apex acute or acuminate.
terminal, occupying distal 2/3 of stem, usually lax and interrupted, narrowly paniculate.
terminal, occupying distal 1/2–2/3 of stem, normally dense or interrupted near base, broadly paniculate (branches of inflorescence mostly with 2d-order branches), branches usually straight or arcuate, rarely indistinctly flexuous.
articulated in proximal part, filiform, 1.5–2.5(–3) mm, articulation indistinct or slightly swollen.
articulated near middle, filiform, 6–14 mm, articulation distinctly swollen.
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.
15–20 in whorls;
inner tepals orbiculate, 6–8(–9) × 6–7.5(–8) mm, base usually distinctly cordate, margins entire or subentire near apex, distinctly dentate in basal 1/2, apex acute or subacute, teeth 0.5–1 mm;
tubercles normally 3, rarely 1, distinctly unequal.
brown or dark brown, 0.9–1.2 × 0.6–0.8 mm.
dark brown or brown, 2.8–3.5 × 2–2.5 mm.
= 8 (pistillate plants), 9 (staminate plants), 10 (both sexes).
= 80.
Rumex hastatulus
Rumex cristatus
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 cristatus is known from Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas; it may occur also in adjacent states (P. Shildneck et al. 1981). Although separable by the characters given in the key, R. cristatus sometimes is misidentified as R. patientia. The morphological distinctions between these related species are obscured by possible hybridization. Such hybrids are known as R. ×xenogenus Rechinger f. (G. D. Kitchener 2002); they may be expected in North America in areas where the parental species grow together.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
IL Wildflowers
KS Wildflowers
LA Plants
MD Biodiversity
MO Plants
WildflowerSearch
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