Rumex obtusifolius
Rumex confertus
bitter dock, broad-leaf dock, broad-leaf or broadleaf or bitter dock, patience a feuilles obtuses
Asiatic dock, Russian dock
erect, branched distal to middle or occasionally in distal 2/3, often with few flowering stems from rootstock, 60–120(–150) cm.
erect, branched above middle, 50–100(–130) cm.
ocrea deciduous to partially persistent at maturity;
blade oblong to ovate-oblong, sometimes broadly ovate, 20–40 × 10–15 cm, usually less than 4 times as long as wide, base normally distinctly cordate, occasionally rounded, rarely truncate, margins normally entire, flat or undulate, rarely slightly crisped, apex obtuse or subacute.
ocrea mostly deciduous or rarely partially persistent at maturity;
blade ovate-triangular, broadly ovate, or ovate-elliptic, 20–30 × 15–25 cm, base deeply and broadly cordate, margins entire to obscurely repand, usually slightly crisped or undulate, apex obtuse to subacute.
terminal, occupying distal 2/3 of stem, usually lax and interrupted, narrowly or broadly paniculate, branches usually forming angle of 30–45° with 1st-order stem.
terminal, occupying distal 1/2 of stem (branches often slightly arcuate at base), rather dense, widely paniculate.
articulated in proximal 1/3 or rarely near middle, filiform, 2.5–8.5(–10) mm, articulation distinctly swollen.
articulated in proximal 1/3, filiform, 4–10 mm, articulation distinctly swollen.
10–25 in lax whorls;
inner tepals ovate-triangular, deltoid or, occasionally, lingulate, 3–6 × 2–3.5 mm (excluding teeth), ca. 1.5–2 times as long as wide, base truncate, margins usually distinctly dentate, rarely subentire, apex obtuse to subacute, straight, teeth 2–5, normally at each side of margin, short-subulate or triangular-subulate, straight, 0.5–1.8 mm, or shorter than width of inner tepals;
tubercle usually 1, sometimes 3, then 1 distinctly larger, smooth.
15–30 in whorls;
inner tepals orbiculate-reniform or broadly scutate, 6–9 × 6–11 mm, as long as wide or nearly so, base cordate to subcordate, margins entire or subentire, occasionally irregularly erose near base, apex abruptly acute to acute;
tubercles usually 1, small, 1–2 mm, normally less than 2 times as wide as inner tepals, rarely absent or indistinct.
brown to reddish brown, 2–2.7 × 1.2–1.7 mm.
reddish brown, 3–3.5 × 1.7–2.5 mm.
= 40.
=40.
Rumex obtusifolius
Rumex confertus
Rumex obtusifolius, a member of subsect. Obtusifolii Rechinger f. (K. H. Rechinger 1937), is a polymorphic species represented in Eurasia by three or four rather distinct races often treated by European authors as subspecies or varieties. These taxa differ mostly in inner tepal dentation and geographic distribution. In North America the morphotypes often intergrade. In Eurasia this species is differentiated into predominantly western subsp. obtusifolius [including R. obtusifolius subsp. agrestis (Fries) Danser], eastern subsp. sylvestris (Wallroth) Rechinger f., intermediate central European subsp. transiens (Simonkai) Rechinger f., and montane subsp. subalpinus (Schur) Simonkai. Only subspp. obtusifolius and sylvestris occur in North America; the former seems to be more common. Subspecies obtusifolius differs from subsp. sylvestris in having larger and more prominently dentate inner tepals with one tubercle, or with three distinctly unequal tubercles; in subsp. sylvestris the teeth are usually less than 0.6 mm, developing only near the base of the inner tepals, and the tubercles often almost subequal.
Rumex obtusifolius may be expected elsewhere in the Great Plains region of the United States and Canada.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Rumex confertus was placed in subsect. Conferti Rechinger f. This species is common and ecologically successful in central and eastern Europe; it may be expected elsewhere in temperate regions of North America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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