Rumex obtusifolius
Rumex dentatus
bitter dock, broad-leaf dock, broad-leaf or broadleaf or bitter dock, patience a feuilles obtuses
lengua de vaca, tooth dock, tooth or dentate or Indian dock
erect, branched distal to middle or occasionally in distal 2/3, often with few flowering stems from rootstock, 60–120(–150) cm.
erect, often flexuous in inflorescence, branched distal to middle, occasionally almost from base, 20–70(–80) 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 deciduous or partially persistent at maturity;
blade oblong, elliptic-lanceolate, or ovate-elliptic, 3–8(–12) × 2–5 cm, normally less than 4 times as long as wide, not coriaceous, base normally truncate or subcordate to weakly cordate, margins entire, flat to weakly undulate, occasionally slightly crisped, apex obtuse 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 1/2 of stem, usually lax and interrupted, broadly paniculate, branches usually ascending and straight.
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, 2–5 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.
10–20 in rather dense remote whorls;
inner tepals ovate-triangular or deltoid, 3–5.5(–6) × 2–3 mm (excluding teeth), ca. 1.5 times as long as wide, base truncate, margins in most cases distinctly dentate, very rarely subentire, apex acute to subacute, straight, teeth 2–4(–5), normally at each side of margins, narrowly triangular, straight, 1–3(–5) mm, equaling or shorter than width of inner tepals;
tubercles (1–)3, equal or subequal.
brown to reddish brown, 2–2.7 × 1.2–1.7 mm.
dark reddish brown, 2–2.8 × 1.4–1.8 mm.
= 40.
= 40.
Rumex obtusifolius
Rumex dentatus
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 dentatus, belonging to subsect. Dentati Rechinger f. (K. H. Rechinger 1937), is an extremely variable species. In Eurasia and northern Africa it is represented by several distinct races, usually regarded as subspecies. Rechinger reported from North America (California and Oregon, mostly as a casual alien occuring in ballast grounds) only subsp. klotzschianus (Meisner) Rechinger f., which is native in southern and eastern Asia (China, India, Japan, Korea). J. E. Dawson (1979) also regarded this as the most common subspecies in North America. However, I believe most North American representatives of this aggregate belong to subsp. halacsyi (Rechinger f.) Rechinger f., which is native in the eastern Mediterranean region (Asia Minor), the Caucasus, southeastern Europe, and western and central Asia. This subspecies, sometimes recognized as R. halacsyi Rechinger f., differs from subsp. klotzschianus by its broader triangular (not rounded) inner tepals and longer teeth (to 3 mm). Unfortunately, subspecies of R. dentatus still are insufficiently understood even in Eurasia. It would be premature to assign most North American specimens to any infraspecific entity.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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