Rumex verticillatus
Rumex graminifolius
swamp dock
grass-leaf sorrel
erect or, rarely, ascending, simple or producing axillary shoots below 1st-order inflorescence or at proximal nodes, 40–100(–150) cm.
erect or ascending, rarely almost prostrate, branched at base and in distal 1/2 (in inflorescence), 7–30(–40) cm;
shoots not crowded, ± elongated.
blades with lateral veins forming angle of 45–60° with midvein, linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, 5–30(–40) × 1–5 cm, usually 5–7(–10) times as long as wide, normally rather thin or at most subcoriaceous, base narrowly cuneate, margins entire, flat or slightly undulate, apex acute or acuminate.
ocrea whitish or silvery, membranous;
blade normally narrowly linear, or occasionally linear-lanceolate, usually not hastate, rarely some with indistinct basal lobes, 3–10 × 0.1–0.2(–0.4) cm, base narrowly cuneate, margins entire, flat or occasionally slightly revolute, apex acute or obtuse.
terminal and axillary, terminal usually occupying distal 1/3–1/2 of stem, usually lax, interrupted at least in basal 1/2, narrowly paniculate.
terminal, occupying distal 2/3 of stem, usually lax and interrupted to top, paniculate, with branches often reflexed.
articulated in proximal part, distinctly thickened distally, 10–17 mm, (2.5–)3–5 times as long as inner tepals, articulation distinctly or slightly swollen.
1–4 mm.
10–15(–25) in remote whorls;
inner tepals ovate-triangular or ovate-deltoid, 3.5–5 × 2.5–4 mm, longer than wide or, very rarely, as long as wide, base truncate or rounded, margins entire or, rarely, very indistinctly erose, apex acute or subacute (then with broadly triangular-lingulate tip);
tubercles 3, equal or subequal, minutely punctate and/or transversely rugose (wrinkled) in proximal part.
(3–)4–6(–8) in whorls;
inner tepals distinctly enlarged, normally 2–2.6 × 1.5–2(–2.2) mm (free wing 0.3–0.5 mm wide), base cuneate, apex obtuse or subacute.
brown or dark brown, 2.3–3.1 × 1.6–2.2 mm.
brown or yellowish brown, 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 mm.
= 60.
= 56.
Rumex verticillatus
Rumex graminifolius
Reports of Rumex verticillatus for New Mexico (W. C. Martin and C. R. Hutchins 1980) need confirmation. The species was reported erroneously from Colorado (S. L. O’Kane et al. 1988) as a result of misidentification of R. fueginus (see W. A. Weber and R. C. Wittmann 1992).
I have not seen specimens of Rumex verticillatus from Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, and New Jersey, but the species probably occurs in those states.
The following two species are closely related to Rumex verticillatus and sometimes treated as subspecies of it.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Records of Rumex graminifolius from Alaska in most cases refer to R. beringensis and R. krausei. The occurrence of typical R. graminifolius in northwestern North America remains uncertain. Some literature records of R. acetosella from northeastern North America (Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland) may refer to R. graminifolius or R. acetosella subsp. arenicola. Rumex graminifolius was reported from Newfoundland also by M. L. Fernald (1950), but that record requires confirmation.
Some plants from northeastern Eurasia (northeastern Russian Far East and northern Siberia) are known in Russian literature as Rumex aureostigmaticus Komarov [Acetosella aureostigmatica (Komarov) Tzvelev], R. acetosella var. subspathulatus Trautvetter, or R. graminifolius var. subspathulatus (Trautvetter) Tolmatchew (see A. I. Tolmachew 1966; N. N. Tzvelev 1989b). They differ from R. graminifolius in having narrower inner tepals and wider spatulate leaves, usually without basal lobes. I have seen only one North American collection approaching this entity. Some specimens (mostly immature or staminate plants) from western Alaska differ from both R. graminifolius and R. beringensis in their habit; they need additional study. Some chromosome counts different from the most typical number (2n = 56) that have been reported for R. graminifolius in the broad sense from northeastern Russian Far East by several Russian authors (see references in Tzvelev) most probably also refer to R. aureostigmaticus. It is also possible that arctic and subarctic plants identified by various authors as R. aureostigmaticus, R. acetosella var. subspathulatus, R. graminifolius var. subspathulatus, and R. acetosella subsp. arenicola belong to one polymorphic complex of plants intermediate between R. acetosella and R. graminifolius.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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