Rumex mexicanus
Rumex verticillatus
Mexican dock, Mexican willow, Mexican willow or dock
swamp dock
erect or ascending, usually producing axillary shoots below 1st-order inflorescence or at proximal nodes, 30–60(–90) cm.
erect or, rarely, ascending, simple or producing axillary shoots below 1st-order inflorescence or at proximal nodes, 40–100(–150) 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.
blades with lateral veins forming angle of 45–60° with midvein, linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, 5–30(–40) × 1–5 cm, usually 5–7(–10) times as long as wide, normally rather thin or at most subcoriaceous, base narrowly cuneate, margins entire, flat or slightly undulate, apex acute or acuminate.
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 and axillary, terminal usually occupying distal 1/3–1/2 of stem, usually lax, interrupted at least in basal 1/2, narrowly paniculate.
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 in proximal part, distinctly thickened distally, 10–17 mm, (2.5–)3–5 times as long as inner tepals, articulation distinctly or slightly swollen.
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).
10–15(–25) in remote whorls;
inner tepals ovate-triangular or ovate-deltoid, 3.5–5 × 2.5–4 mm, longer than wide or, very rarely, as long as wide, base truncate or rounded, margins entire or, rarely, very indistinctly erose, apex acute or subacute (then with broadly triangular-lingulate tip);
tubercles 3, equal or subequal, minutely punctate and/or transversely rugose (wrinkled) in proximal part.
brown or dark reddish brown, 2–3 × 1.5–2 mm.
brown or dark brown, 2.3–3.1 × 1.6–2.2 mm.
= 40.
= 60.
Rumex mexicanus
Rumex verticillatus
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.)
Reports of Rumex verticillatus for New Mexico (W. C. Martin and C. R. Hutchins 1980) need confirmation. The species was reported erroneously from Colorado (S. L. O’Kane et al. 1988) as a result of misidentification of R. fueginus (see W. A. Weber and R. C. Wittmann 1992).
I have not seen specimens of Rumex verticillatus from Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, and New Jersey, but the species probably occurs in those states.
The following two species are closely related to Rumex verticillatus and sometimes treated as subspecies of it.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
Go Botany
IL Wildflowers
KS Wildflowers
LA Plants
MD Biodiversity
MI Flora
MN Wildflowers
MO Plants
