Rumex obtusifolius |
Rumex sanguineus |
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bitter dock, broad-leaf dock, broad-leaf or broadleaf or bitter dock, patience a feuilles obtuses |
bloody dock, red-vein dock, wood or redvein or bloodwort dock |
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Habit | Plants perennial, glabrous or ± papillose especially on veins of leaf blades abaxially, with fusiform, vertical rootstock. | Plants perennial, normally glabrous, rarely very indistinctly papillose on veins of leaf blades abaxially, with fusiform, vertical rootstock. |
Stems | erect, branched distal to middle or occasionally in distal 2/3, often with few flowering stems from rootstock, 60–120(–150) cm. |
erect, branched in distal 2/3, sometimes branched almost from base or with few flowering stems from rootstock, 30–70(–90) cm. |
Leaves | 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 oblong-lanceolate, obovate-lanceolate, or lanceolate, normally (5–)10–30 × 2.5–6 cm, base rounded, truncate, or subcordate, rarely cuneate, margins entire to obscurely repand, flat to slightly undulate, apex acute or subacute, occasionally attenuate. |
Inflorescences | 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 2/3 of stem, lax, interrupted, broadly paniculate, branches simple or nearly so; panicle leafless or leafy only near base. |
Pedicels | articulated in proximal 1/3 or rarely near middle, filiform, 2.5–8.5(–10) mm, articulation distinctly swollen. |
articulated in proximal 1/3 or rarely near middle, filiform, (2–)4–6(–8) mm, normally distinctly longer than inner tepals, articulation distinctly swollen. |
Flowers | 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 lax, remote whorls; inner tepals oblong-lanceolate, oblong, or lingulate, 2–3 × 0.8–1.3(–1.8) mm, ca. 2 times as long as wide, base cuneate or subtruncate, margins entire, apex obtuse; tubercle 1 (occasionally 3, then 1 much larger, almost as wide as inner tepals). |
Achenes | brown to reddish brown, 2–2.7 × 1.2–1.7 mm. |
usually dark reddish brown to almost black, 1.25–1.5(–1.8) × 1–1.3 mm. |
2n | = 40. |
= 20. |
Rumex obtusifolius |
Rumex sanguineus |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–early fall. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Waste places, roadsides, fields, shores, meadows, wet woods, swamps | Moist alluvial and riparian habitats, ruderal places, ballast grounds |
Elevation | 0-2300 m (0-7500 ft) | 0-500 m (0-1600 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; BC; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SPM; Greenland; Europe; w Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced elsewhere]
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AL; OR; PA; BC; ON; QC; Europe; sw Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | 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.) |
Distribution of Rumex sanguineus in North America is known insufficiently. Most reports from California, Washington, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec were based on misidentified specimens of R. conglomeratus or immature R. obtusifolius. Rumex sanguineus is represented in Europe by at least two varieties. The uncommon, cultivated, and occasionally escaped var. sanguineus (redvein dock or bloodwort) has bright red or purple venation of leaves. It probably arose as a mutant from the common, wild var. viridis Sibthorp. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 526. | FNA vol. 5, p. 525. |
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Rumex > subg. Rumex > sect. Rumex | Polygonaceae > subfam. Polygonoideae > Rumex > subg. Rumex > sect. Rumex |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. crispatulus, R. rugelii | Lapathum sanguineum, R. condylodes, R. nemorosus |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 335. (1753) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 334. (1753) |
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