Rumex hastatulus
Rumex dentatus
heartwing dock, heartwing sorrel, wild dock, wild sorrel
lengua de vaca, tooth dock, tooth or dentate or Indian dock
solitary or several from base, erect or ascending, branched in distal 2/3 (in inflorescence), 10–40(–45) cm.
erect, often flexuous in inflorescence, branched distal to middle, occasionally almost from base, 20–70(–80) 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 oblong, elliptic-lanceolate, or ovate-elliptic, 3–8(–12) × 2–5 cm, normally less than 4 times as long as wide, not coriaceous, base normally truncate or subcordate to weakly cordate, margins entire, flat to weakly undulate, occasionally slightly crisped, apex obtuse or subacute.
terminal, occupying distal 2/3 of stem, usually lax and interrupted, narrowly paniculate.
terminal, occupying distal 1/2 of stem, usually lax and interrupted, broadly paniculate, branches usually ascending and straight.
articulated in proximal part, filiform, 1.5–2.5(–3) mm, articulation indistinct or slightly swollen.
articulated in proximal 1/3, filiform, 2–5 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.
10–20 in rather dense remote whorls;
inner tepals ovate-triangular or deltoid, 3–5.5(–6) × 2–3 mm (excluding teeth), ca. 1.5 times as long as wide, base truncate, margins in most cases distinctly dentate, very rarely subentire, apex acute to subacute, straight, teeth 2–4(–5), normally at each side of margins, narrowly triangular, straight, 1–3(–5) mm, equaling or shorter than width of inner tepals;
tubercles (1–)3, equal or subequal.
brown or dark brown, 0.9–1.2 × 0.6–0.8 mm.
dark reddish brown, 2–2.8 × 1.4–1.8 mm.
= 8 (pistillate plants), 9 (staminate plants), 10 (both sexes).
= 40.
Rumex hastatulus
Rumex dentatus
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 dentatus, belonging to subsect. Dentati Rechinger f. (K. H. Rechinger 1937), is an extremely variable species. In Eurasia and northern Africa it is represented by several distinct races, usually regarded as subspecies. Rechinger reported from North America (California and Oregon, mostly as a casual alien occuring in ballast grounds) only subsp. klotzschianus (Meisner) Rechinger f., which is native in southern and eastern Asia (China, India, Japan, Korea). J. E. Dawson (1979) also regarded this as the most common subspecies in North America. However, I believe most North American representatives of this aggregate belong to subsp. halacsyi (Rechinger f.) Rechinger f., which is native in the eastern Mediterranean region (Asia Minor), the Caucasus, southeastern Europe, and western and central Asia. This subspecies, sometimes recognized as R. halacsyi Rechinger f., differs from subsp. klotzschianus by its broader triangular (not rounded) inner tepals and longer teeth (to 3 mm). Unfortunately, subspecies of R. dentatus still are insufficiently understood even in Eurasia. It would be premature to assign most North American specimens to any infraspecific entity.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
IL Wildflowers
KS Wildflowers
LA Plants
MD Biodiversity- Local floras:
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
