Rumex hymenosepalus |
Rumex altissimus |
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Arizona dock, canaigre, canaigre dock, cañaigre dock, wild-rhubarb |
pale dock, smooth dock, tall dock |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, glabrous or indistinctly papillose-pubescent, with distinctly tuberous roots and short rhizomes. | Plants perennial, glabrous, with vertical rootstock. |
Stems | usually erect, rarely ascending, branched above middle, 25–90(–100) cm. |
erect, rarely ascending, usually producing axillary shoots below 1st-order inflorescence or at proximal nodes, 50–90(–120) cm. |
Leaves | ocrea prominent and persistent at maturity, whitish or silvery white, membranous; blade oblong, oblong-elliptic, or obovate-lanceolate, (5–)8–30 × 2–8(–12) cm, base cuneate or narrowly cuneate, margins entire, flat or indistinctly crisped, apex acute or acuminate, rarely obtuse. |
blades ovate-lanceolate, elliptic-lanceolate, or lanceolate, 10–15 × 3–5.5 cm, usually ca. 2.5–4 times as long as wide, widest in proximal 1/2, thick, often subcoriaceous, base broadly cuneate, rarely almost rounded, margins entire, flat, apex acute or attenuate. |
Inflorescences | terminal, occupying distal 1/2 of stem, narrowly paniculate, rarely simple. |
terminal and axillary, terminal usually occupying distal 1/5–1/3 of stem, rather dense, normally broadly paniculate. |
Pedicels | articulated near middle or in proximal 1/3, filiform, 5–15(–20) mm, articulation indistinct. |
articulated in proximal 1/3, sometimes almost near base, thick, (2–)3–7(–8) mm, usually approximately as long as inner tepals, occasionally slightly longer or shorter, articulation swollen. |
Flowers | 5–20 in whorls; inner tepals oblong-cordate or orbiculate-cordate, 11–16 × 9.5–14 mm, base sinuate or emarginate, margins entire, rarely with few extremely small denticles at base, apex obtuse or subacute; tubercles absent. |
12–20 in whorls; inner tepals with broadly triangular, ovate-triangular, or broadly ovate-deltoid, 4.5–6 × 3–4.5(–5) mm, base truncate or indistinctly cordate, margins entire, apex acute; tubercles (2–)3, equal or subequal, glabrous or minutely rugose. |
Achenes | brown or reddish brown, 4–5(–7) × 2.5–4.5(–5) mm. |
brown or dark reddish brown, 2.5–3.5 × 1.8–2.3 mm. |
2n | = 40. |
= 20. |
Rumex hymenosepalus |
Rumex altissimus |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering late spring–summer. |
Habitat | Sandy and rocky places: plains, slopes, stream beds, alkaline soils | Swamps, marshes, wet shores, alluvial woods, other wet habitats |
Elevation | 0-1700(-2000) m (0-5600(-6600) ft) | 0-1800 m (0-5900 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; MT; NM; NV; OK; TX; UT; WY; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua)
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AL; AR; AZ; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; WY; ON; n Mexico [Europe (introduced in Denmark, Sweden, United Kingdom)]
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Discussion | Rumex hymenosepalus is the only species of subsect. Hymenosepali Rechinger f. Two varieties have been recognized. The typical variety has achenes 5 mm and ovate-elliptic or oblong-cordate inner tepals with a subacute apex. Variety salinus (A. Nelson) Rechinger f. has larger achenes (to 7 mm) and almost orbiculate inner tepals with an obtuse apex. Rumex hymenosepalus was reported also from Montana (J. E. Dawson 1979), but no exact localities were given. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The name Rumex britannica Linnaeus was misapplied to this species by C. F. Meisner (1856) and some North American authors. Some records of Rumex altissimus from Arizona and New Mexico may refer to R. ellipticus. Two reports from New Mexico were based on misidentification of R. hymenosepalus. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 515. | FNA vol. 5, p. 507. |
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Rumex > subg. Rumex > sect. Rumex | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Rumex > subg. Rumex > sect. Axillares |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. arizonicus, R. hymenosepalus var. salinus, R. salinus, R. saxei | |
Name authority | Torrey: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 177. (1859) | Alph. Wood: Class-book Bot. ed. 2, 477. (1847) |
Web links |