Rumex mexicanus
Rumex acetosa
Mexican dock, Mexican willow, Mexican willow or dock
common dock, common sorrel, garden sorrel, grande oseille, green sorrel, sourdock, tall coneflower
erect or ascending, usually producing axillary shoots below 1st-order inflorescence or at proximal nodes, 30–60(–90) cm.
erect or rarely ascending, 1 to several from base, branched in distal 1/2 (in inflorescence), (25–)30–90(–110) cm.
blades light green to yellowish green, linear-lanceolate, occasionally lanceolate, 6–14 × 1–3.5(–4) cm, usually ca. 5–7 times as long as wide, widest near middle, thin, not coriaceous, base cuneate, margins entire, flat or undulate, apex acute or attenuate.
ocrea normally laciniate;
blade oblong-ovate, ovate-lanceolate, to lanceolate, 4–10(–15) × 1–4(–6) cm, normally more than 2.5 times as long as wide, base sagittate (with acute lobes directed downward, ± parallel to petiole), margins entire, normally flat, apex acute or subacute.
terminal and axillary, terminal usually occupying distal 1/5–1/3 of stem, rather dense or interrupted in proximal 1/2, usually broadly paniculate (branches simple or with few 2d-order branches).
terminal, occupying distal 1/3 of stem, usually lax and interrupted especially in proximal part, narrowly paniculate, cylindric (with 1st-order branches simple, or with few 2d-order branches).
articulated in proximal 1/3 or almost near base, filiform (thickened distally), 4–7 mm, not more than 2–2.5 times as long as inner tepals, articulation indistinctly swollen.
articulated near middle, filiform, 2–5(–6) mm, articulation distinct.
10–20 in whorls;
inner tepals broadly ovate-triangular, occasionally broadly triangular, 3.5–4.5(–5) × 3.5–4(–5) mm, base truncate or indistinctly cordate, margins entire or indistinctly erose, apex obtuse or subacute;
tubercles 3, equal or subequal (much narrower than inner tepals).
(2–)4–8(–10) in whorls;
inner tepals orbiculate, occasionally broadly ovate, 3–4(–5) × 3–4 mm, base rounded or cordate, apex obtuse;
tubercles small or occasionally absent.
brown or dark reddish brown, 2–3 × 1.5–2 mm.
black to dark brown, 1.8–2.5 × 1.2–1.5 mm, shiny, smooth.
= 40.
= 14 (pistillate plants), 15 (staminate plants).
Rumex mexicanus
Rumex acetosa
Some authors recognize Rumex mexicanus in the broad sense, including in it many other taxa treated here as separate entities. For consistency, the entities of the R. salicifolius aggregate that are recognized herein are kept separate pending additional taxonomic research.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Rumex acetosa is morphologically uniform in North America. It sometimes is misidentified as R. hastatulus orR. acetosella. Collections from North America are few in herbaria, and this species probably is not as common in the flora area as has been generally assumed. Some literature reports for R. acetosa may refer to other taxa of the species group.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
BC
WA
Go Botany
MI Flora
MN Wildflowers
