Rumex hymenosepalus
Rumex thyrsiflorus
Arizona dock, canaigre, canaigre dock, cañaigre dock, wild-rhubarb
compact dock, garden sorrel, grande oseille thyrsiflore, narrow-leaf sorrel, thyrse sorrel
usually erect, rarely ascending, branched above middle, 25–90(–100) cm.
usually erect, several from base, or occasionally solitary, branched in distal 1/2 (in inflorescence), (30–)40–100(–130) cm.
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 often with fringed margins;
blade oblong-lanceolate to lanceolate, 3–12(–15) × 1–3(–5) cm, usually more than 4 times as long as wide, base sagittate or sometimes hastate (with acute lobes directed downward, ± parallel to petiole, or often reflexed outward), margins entire to obscurely and irregularly repand, usually crisped and undulate, occasionally flat, apex acute.
terminal, occupying distal 1/2 of stem, narrowly paniculate, rarely simple.
terminal, occupying distal 1/3 of stem, usually dense, or interrupted in proximal part, broadly paniculate, pyramidal (1st-order branches usually repeatedly branched, with numerous 2d-order branches).
articulated near middle or in proximal 1/3, filiform, 5–15(–20) mm, articulation indistinct.
articulated near middle, filiform, 2–6(–7) mm, articulation distinct.
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.
(3–)4–8(–12) in whorls;
inner tepals orbiculate, occasionally broadly ovate, 2.5–3.5(–4) × 2.5–3.5 mm, base rounded, truncate, or slightly cordate, apex obtuse;
tubercles small or occasionally absent.
brown or reddish brown, 4–5(–7) × 2.5–4.5(–5) mm.
black or dark brown, 1.5–1.8 × 0.8–1.2 mm, normally smooth.
= 40.
= 14 (pistillate plants), 15 (staminate plants).
Rumex hymenosepalus
Rumex thyrsiflorus
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 thyrsiflorus is commonly misidentified as R. acetosa. The growth habit (stout, vertical rootstock), narrower, often undulate leaves with often slightly spreading basal lobes (however, some European specimens have the lobes of distal and middle cauline leaves curved inward), and pyramidal, usually much-branched panicle of R. thyrsiflorus are traits especially useful for field identification. In addition, the inner tepals of R. thyrsiflorus are distinctly smaller than those of R. acetosa. The southern European (Mediterranean) race of R. thyrsiflorus, characterized by narrower leaves with more spreading, almost hastate basal lobes and fruiting inner tepals less cordate at the base, is sometimes recognized as R. intermedius de Candolle [= Acetosa thyrsiflora subsp. intermedia (de Candolle) Á. Löve]. The same forms occasionally occur in North America (Á. Löve 1986).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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