Rumex hastatulus
Rumex obovatus
heartwing dock, heartwing sorrel, wild dock, wild sorrel
obovate-leaf dock, tropical dock
solitary or several from base, erect or ascending, branched in distal 2/3 (in inflorescence), 10–40(–45) cm.
erect, branched distal to middle or in distal 2/3, 20–40(–70) 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 usually distinctly obovate, widest distal to middle, rarely weakly panduriform, 4–7(–11) × 2–5 cm, less than 4 times as long as wide, coriaceous, base cuneate, rarely almost truncate, margins entire, flat, rarely slightly undulate, apex obtuse or rounded.
terminal, occupying distal 2/3 of stem, usually lax and interrupted, narrowly paniculate.
terminal, occupying distal 1/2 of stem, usually lax, occasionally rather dense, interrupted in basal 1/2, broadly paniculate, branches usually straight, unbranched, forming angle of 45° with 1st-order stem, leafy almost to top.
articulated in proximal part, filiform, 1.5–2.5(–3) mm, articulation indistinct or slightly swollen.
articulated in proximal 1/3, thickened, 3–5 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 whorls;
inner tepals ovate-triangular or triangular-deltoid, 4–5(–5.5) × 2.4–3 mm (excluding teeth), ca. 1.5 times as long as wide, base truncate, margins distinctly dentate, apex acute to subacute, straight, teeth 3–5, normally at each side of margins, narrowly triangular or subulate, straight, 0.4–2.5 mm, equaling or shorter than width of inner tepals;
tubercles usually 3, equal or subequal, apex obtuse, distinctly verrucose.
brown or dark brown, 0.9–1.2 × 0.6–0.8 mm.
brown, 2.3–2.8(–3) × 1.4–1.8 mm.
= 8 (pistillate plants), 9 (staminate plants), 10 (both sexes).
Rumex hastatulus
Rumex obovatus
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 obovatus is morphologically uniform. Individuals with panduriform leaves may be mistaken for R. pulcher, which is distinguished from R. obovatus by its less leathery leaves with subcordate to truncate (not distinctly cuneate) bases, usually more-spreading inflorescence branches, and perennial habit. Rumex obovatus was reported for Louisiana by J. W. Thieret (1969c), who followed determinations by K. H. Rechinger. It is known also from Florida and may be expected in adjacent coastal states. Thieret mentioned that one of his collections was made “within 150 feet of the Texas border.”
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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