Rumex hastatulus
Rumex stenophyllus
heartwing dock, heartwing sorrel, wild dock, wild sorrel
narrow-leaf 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, 40–80(–130) 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.
ocreae usually deciduous, rarely partially persistent at maturity;
blade oblong-lanceolate, lanceolate, or narrowly lanceolate, normally 15–25(–30) × 2–7 cm, base cuneate or truncate, margins entire or irregularly denticulate, usually crisped and undulate, or, occasionally, flat, apex acute or subobtuse.
terminal, occupying distal 2/3 of stem, usually lax and interrupted, narrowly paniculate.
terminal, occupying distal 1/2 of stem, dense or interrupted at base, narrowly paniculate, branches usually straight or occasionally arcuate.
articulated in proximal part, filiform, 1.5–2.5(–3) mm, articulation indistinct or slightly swollen.
articulated in proximal 1/3, filiform, 3–8 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.
20–25 in whorls;
inner tepals orbiculate-ovate or occasionally ovate-deltoid, 3.5–5 × 3–5 mm, base truncate or slightly cordate, margins denticulate, apex acute or subacute, teeth 4–10 at each side, 0.2–1.5 mm;
tubercles normally 3, equal or subequal, less than 2 times as wide as inner tepals.
brown or dark brown, 0.9–1.2 × 0.6–0.8 mm.
usually reddish brown or dark brown, 2–2.5(–3) × 1–1.5 mm.
= 8 (pistillate plants), 9 (staminate plants), 10 (both sexes).
= 60.
Rumex hastatulus
Rumex stenophyllus
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.)
Within its native range Rumex stenophyllus is mostly confined to slightly saline coastal and alluvial (riparian) habitats. It has successfully colonized a wide range of ruderal and segetal habitats in both Europe and North America. Further spread of this species in the central and southwestern United States and southern Canada may be expected (D. Löve and J.-P. Bernard 1958). It was placed by K. H. Rechinger (1949) in subsect. Stenophylli Rechinger f.
According to J. K. Morton and J. M. Venn (1990), reports of Rumex stenophyllus from Ontario refer to the hybrid R. crispus × R. obtusifolius, but R. stenophyllus may be found in the province in the future. Rumex stenophyllus may be distinguished from that hybrid by its fertile fruits and more uniform inner tepals.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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