Rumex obtusifolius
Rumex paraguayensis
bitter dock, broad-leaf dock, broad-leaf or broadleaf or bitter dock, patience a feuilles obtuses
Paraguay dock, Paraguayan 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 or in distal 2/3, 20–40(–70) 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 distinctly obovate or sometimes panduriform, 4–6(–7) × 2–4(–5) cm, less than 4 times as long as wide, coriaceous, base cuneate or truncate, margins entire, flat or crisped, apex obtuse.
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, occasionally rather dense in distalmost part, interrupted in basal 1/2, broadly paniculate, branches spreading.
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 or indistinctly thickened, 2.5–6 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 whorls;
inner tepals obovate-triangular to deltoid, 3–4 × 1.8–2.5 mm (excluding teeth), ca. 1.5 times as long as wide, base truncate, margins distinctly dentate, apex acute to subacute, straight, teeth 2–3(–4), normally at each side of margins, triangular, straight, 0.4–1.5 mm, equaling or shorter than width of inner tepals;
tubercles usually 3, equal or subequal, apex acute or subacute, smooth or minutely punctate.
brown to reddish brown, 2–2.7 × 1.2–1.7 mm.
reddish brown, 1.7–1.9(–2) × 1–1.4 mm.
= 40.
Rumex obtusifolius
Rumex paraguayensis
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 paraguayensis is closely related to R. obovatus and may be confused with it or, less frequently, with other species having dentate inner tepals (e.g., R. dentatus, R. obtusifolius, and R. pulcher). Rumex paraguayensis and R. obovatus appear to belong to a separate, undescribed subsection.
This species was first reported for North America from Saint Tammany Parish, Louisiana, by J. W. Thieret (1969c). Its status in North America is uncertain; J. H. Horton (1972) excluded it from the list of Polygonaceae of the southeastern United States. I have seen only two immature specimens from Florida.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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