Rumex hymenosepalus |
Rumex cristatus |
|
---|---|---|
Arizona dock, canaigre, canaigre dock, cañaigre dock, wild-rhubarb |
crested dock, Greek dock |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, glabrous or indistinctly papillose-pubescent, with distinctly tuberous roots and short rhizomes. | Plants perennial, glabrous or indistinctly papillose exclusively on veins of leaf blades abaxially, with fusiform, vertical rootstock. |
Stems | usually erect, rarely ascending, branched above middle, 25–90(–100) cm. |
erect, branched from above middle or in distal 2/3, 70–150(–200) 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. |
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. |
Inflorescences | terminal, occupying distal 1/2 of stem, narrowly paniculate, rarely simple. |
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. |
Pedicels | articulated near middle or in proximal 1/3, filiform, 5–15(–20) mm, articulation indistinct. |
articulated near middle, filiform, 6–14 mm, articulation distinctly 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. |
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. |
Achenes | brown or reddish brown, 4–5(–7) × 2.5–4.5(–5) mm. |
dark brown or brown, 2.8–3.5 × 2–2.5 mm. |
2n | = 40. |
= 80. |
Rumex hymenosepalus |
Rumex cristatus |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering late spring–early summer. |
Habitat | Sandy and rocky places: plains, slopes, stream beds, alkaline soils | Waste places, roadsides, along railroads, other ruderal habitats |
Elevation | 0-1700(-2000) m (0-5600(-6600) ft) | 100-300 m (300-1000 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; MT; NM; NV; OK; TX; UT; WY; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua)
|
IL; KS; MO; se Europe (Balkans, Greece); naturalized elsewhere in s Europe [Introduced in North America] |
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.) |
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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 515. | FNA vol. 5, p. 521. |
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Rumex > subg. Rumex > sect. Rumex | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Rumex > subg. Rumex > sect. Rumex |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. arizonicus, R. hymenosepalus var. salinus, R. salinus, R. saxei | R. graecus, R. patientia subsp. graecus |
Name authority | Torrey: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 177. (1859) | de Candolle: Cat. Pl. Hort. Monsp., 139. (1813) |
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