Rumex altissimus

Alph. Wood

Class-book Bot. ed. 2, 477. 1847.

Common names: Tall or pale dock
WeedyIllustrated
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 507. Mentioned on page 492, 508.

Plants perennial, glabrous, with vertical rootstock. Stems erect, rarely ascending, usually producing axillary shoots below 1st-order inflorescence or at proximal nodes, 50–90 (–120) cm. Leaf-blades ovatelanceolate, elliptic-lanceolate, or lanceolate, 10–15 × 3–5.5 cm, usually ca. 2.5–4 times as long as wide, widest in proximal 1/2, thick, often subcoriaceous, base broadly cuneate, rarely almost rounded, margins entire, flat, apex acute or attenuate. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, terminal usually occupying distal 1/5–1/3 of stem, rather dense, normally broadly paniculate. Pedicels articulated in proximal 1/3, sometimes almost near base, thick, (2–) 3–7 (–8) mm, usually approximately as long as inner tepals, occasionally slightly longer or shorter, articulation swollen. Flowers 12–20 in whorls; inner tepals with broadly triangular, ovate-triangular, or broadly ovate-deltoid, 4.5–6 × 3–4.5 (–5) mm, base truncate or indistinctly cordate, margins entire, apex acute; tubercles (2–) 3, equal or subequal, glabrous or minutely rugose. Achenes brown or dark reddish-brown, 2.5–3.5 × 1.8–2.3 mm. 2n = 20.


Phenology: Flowering late spring–summer.
Habitat: Swamps, marshes, wet shores, alluvial woods, other wet habitats
Elevation: 0-1800 m

Distribution

V5 1039-distribution-map.gif

Ont., Ala., Ariz., Ark., Colo., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis., Wyo., n Mexico, Europe ( in Denmark), Europe (Sweden), Europe (United Kingdom)

Discussion

The name Rumex britannica Linnaeus was misapplied to this species by C. F. Meisner (1856) and some North American authors.

Some records of Rumex altissimus from Arizona and New Mexico may refer to R. ellipticus. Two reports from New Mexico were based on misidentification of R. hymenosepalus.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"/2" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

... more about "Rumex altissimus"
unwinged +  and weakly winged +
dark reddish-brown;brown +
0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br /> (0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br />) +
pyramidal +, compressed-3-gonous +  and 3-gonous +
1.8mm;2.3mm +
yellow +  and brownish yellow +
ovate +  and elongate +
0.45 cm4.5 mm <br />0.0045 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
4.5mm;6mm +
acute;cordate;truncate;ovate-deltoid;ovate-triangular;triangular;attenuate;acute +
3mm;4.5mm +
Sergei L. Mosyakin +
Alph. Wood +
leafy +  and regular +
not articulated +
0.45 cm4.5 mm <br />0.0045 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
0.45 cm4.5 mm <br />0.0045 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
acute +, cordate +, truncate +, ovate-deltoid +, ovate-triangular +, triangular +, rounded +  and cuneate +
3mm +  and 4.5mm +
crisped;undulate;flat;crisped;undulate;flat +
foliaceous +  and perfoliate +
scale-like +
tuberculate +
just below the soil surface or and above the soil surface +  and spreading +
Tall or pale dock +
Ont. +, Ala. +, Ariz. +, Ark. +, Colo. +, Conn. +, Del. +, D.C. +, Fla. +, Ga. +, Ill. +, Ind. +, Iowa +, Kans. +, Ky. +, La. +, Maine +, Md. +, Mass. +, Mich. +, Minn. +, Miss. +, Mo. +, Nebr. +, N.H. +, N.J. +, N.Mex. +, N.Y. +, N.C. +, Ohio +, Okla. +, Pa. +, R.I. +, S.C. +, S.Dak. +, Tenn. +, Tex. +, Vt. +, Va. +, W.Va. +, Wis. +, Wyo. +, n Mexico +, Europe ( in Denmark) +, Europe (Sweden) +  and Europe (United Kingdom) +
0-1800 m +
free +  and distinct +
unisexual +, bisexual +  and , +
disarticulating +  and solid +
decumbent to erect +  and prostrate +
unwinged +  and winged +
black +, red +, brown +  and yellowish +
exserted +  and included +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
spheroidal +, 4-gonous +, lenticular +, biconvex +, discoid +, 3-gonous +  and 2-gonous +
Swamps, marshes, wet shores, alluvial woods, other wet habitats +
always distinctly wider and longer +
erose-denticulate +
nonmembranous +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
lanceolate +, elliptic-lanceolate +  and ovatelanceolate +
subcoriaceous +
widest;3cm;5.5cm +
deciduous +
cauline +  and basal +
0.45 cm4.5 mm <br />0.0045 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
0.45 cm4.5 mm <br />0.0045 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
acute +, cordate +, truncate +, ovate-deltoid +, ovate-triangular +  and triangular +
smaller +
3mm +  and 4.5mm +
swollen +
partly +  and foliaceous +
deciduous +  and persistent +
cylindric +
membranous +
anatropous +, , +  and orthotropous +
0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
accrescent +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
spreading;erect +
red;pinkish;red;pinkish;green +
campanulate +
accrescent +
fleshy +, indurate +  and membranous +
Flowering late spring–summer. +
(2-)3(-4)-carpellate +
90 cm900 mm <br />0.9 m <br /> (120 cm1,200 mm <br />1.2 m <br />) +
50 cm500 mm <br />0.5 m <br /> (90 cm900 mm <br />0.9 m <br />) +
Class-book Bot. ed. +
slender;stout +
Weedy +  and Illustrated +
not scapose +
decumbent +  and procumbent +
ascending +  and erect +
papillose-pubescent +  and glabrous +
1/5 +  and 1/3 +
plumose +  and fimbriate +
deciduous +  and persistent +
2-lobed +  and cylindric +
coriaceous +  and membranous +
distinct +
reflexed;spreading +
spreading;erect +
Undefined subg. Lapathum +, Rumex sect. Lapathum +  and Rumex subg. Lapathum +
Rumex altissimus +
Rumex sect. Axillares +
species +
lobed +  and laciniate +
coriaceous +
persistent +
membranous +
stoloniferous +  and rhizomatous +
10 +, 9 +, 8 +  and 7 +