Rumex obtusifolius
Rumex maritimus
bitter dock, broad-leaf dock, broad-leaf or broadleaf or bitter dock, patience a feuilles obtuses
bristle dock, golden dock, maritime dock, rumex maritime
erect, branched distal to middle or occasionally in distal 2/3, often with few flowering stems from rootstock, 60–120(–150) cm.
erect (some dwarf alluvial forms may be ascending or almost prostrate), branched in distal 2/3, occasionally almost near base, (5–)15–75(–100) 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 to partially persistent at maturity;
blade lanceolate or lanceolate-linear, rarely oblong-lanceolate, usually very gradually narrowed at both ends, (4–)7–25(–40) × (1–)1.5–4(–5) cm, at least 4 times as long as wide, base narrowly cuneate, very rarely broadly cuneate, margins entire, flat or rarely weakly undulate, apex acute, very rarely subobtuse.
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, occasionally most of stem, golden or greenish yellow, usually rather dense or interrupted in proximal part, broadly paniculate, branches spreading.
articulated in proximal 1/3 or rarely near middle, filiform, 2.5–8.5(–10) mm, articulation distinctly swollen.
articulated near base or at least in proximal 1/3, filiform, 3–8 mm, articulation weakly evident.
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 (occasionally more) in rather dense whorls;
inner tepals narrowly triangular or narrowly rhombic-triangular, 2.5–3(–3.5) × 0.75–1.2(–1.5) mm (excluding teeth), normally ca. 2 times as long as wide, base truncate or broadly cuneate, margins prominently dentate, apex acute, very rarely subacute, straight, teeth 2–3(–4), normally at each side of margins, subulate-filiform, bristlelike, 1–3.5 mm, usually 1.5–2 times as long as width of inner tepals;
tubercles 3, equal or subequal, apex acute or subacute, smooth.
brown to reddish brown, 2–2.7 × 1.2–1.7 mm.
light brown, small, 0.9–1.75 × 0.6–1 mm.
= 40.
= 40.
Rumex obtusifolius
Rumex maritimus
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.)
This Eurasian species is known as a casual alien from several localities in North America. Its distribution is poorly known due to confusion with native American species of this aggregate. Plants from Alaska and Yukon reported by E. Hultén (1968) as Rumex maritimus need additional study; they may be conspecific with some eastern Asian races of the R. maritimus aggregate. It is rare or almost absent in eastern Asia, where it is replaced by closely related taxa.
Species of the Rumex maritimus aggregate can be placed in a separate subsection Maritimi Rechinger f. (K. H. Rechinger 1937) or even section Orientales A. I. Baranov & B. V. Skvortzov (see A. E. Borodina 1977).
In addition to characters mentioned in the key and descriptions, additional distinctive features of Rumex maritimus are the smooth tubercles (occasionally finely striate or indistinctly pitted in herbarium specimens), and golden yellow or greenish yellow mature inflorescences.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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