Rumex obtusifolius
Rumex acetosa
bitter dock, broad-leaf dock, broad-leaf or broadleaf or bitter dock, patience a feuilles obtuses
common dock, common sorrel, garden sorrel, grande oseille, green sorrel, sourdock, tall coneflower
erect, branched distal to middle or occasionally in distal 2/3, often with few flowering stems from rootstock, 60–120(–150) cm.
erect or rarely ascending, 1 to several from base, branched in distal 1/2 (in inflorescence), (25–)30–90(–110) 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 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, 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 1/3 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 rarely near middle, filiform, 2.5–8.5(–10) mm, articulation distinctly swollen.
articulated near middle, filiform, 2–5(–6) mm, articulation distinct.
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.
(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 to reddish brown, 2–2.7 × 1.2–1.7 mm.
black to dark brown, 1.8–2.5 × 1.2–1.5 mm, shiny, smooth.
= 40.
= 14 (pistillate plants), 15 (staminate plants).
Rumex obtusifolius
Rumex acetosa
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 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.)
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