Rumex verticillatus

Linnaeus

Sp. Pl. 1: 334. 1753.

Common names: Swamp dock
WeedyIllustratedEndemic
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 505. Mentioned on page 492, 507.

Plants perennial, glabrous or nearly so, with vertical rootstock. Stems erect or, rarely, ascending, simple or producing axillary shoots below 1st-order inflorescence or at proximal nodes, 40–100 (–150) cm. Leaf-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. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, terminal usually occupying distal 1/3–1/2 of stem, usually lax, interrupted at least in basal 1/2, narrowly paniculate. Pedicels 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. Flowers 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. Achenes brown or dark-brown, 2.3–3.1 × 1.6–2.2 mm. 2n = 60.


Phenology: Flowering spring–early summer.
Habitat: Swamps, bogs, marshes, wet meadows, irrigation ditches, wet alluvial woods
Elevation: 0-800 m

Distribution

V5 1035-distribution-map.gif

Ont., Que., Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.

Discussion

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.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

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

... more about "Rumex verticillatus"
unwinged +  and weakly winged +
dark-brown;brown +
0.23 cm2.3 mm <br />0.0023 m <br /> (0.31 cm3.1 mm <br />0.0031 m <br />) +
pyramidal +, compressed-3-gonous +  and 3-gonous +
1.6mm;2.2mm +
yellow +  and brownish yellow +
ovate +  and elongate +
subacute;acute;acuminate;acute +
Sergei L. Mosyakin +
Linnaeus +
leafy +  and regular +
not articulated +
rounded +, truncate +  and cuneate +
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 +
Swamp dock +
Ont. +, Que. +, Ala. +, Ark. +, Conn. +, Del. +, Fla. +, Ga. +, Ill. +, Ind. +, Iowa +, Kans. +, Ky. +, La. +, Md. +, Mass. +, Mich. +, Minn. +, Miss. +, Mo. +, Nebr. +, N.J. +, N.Y. +, N.C. +, Ohio +, Okla. +, Pa. +, R.I. +, S.C. +, S.Dak. +, Tenn. +, Tex. +, Vt. +, Va. +, W.Va. +  and Wis. +
0-800 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, bogs, marshes, wet meadows, irrigation ditches, wet alluvial woods +
0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
, +  and longer than wide +
ovate-deltoid +  and ovate-triangular +
wide +, 2.5mm +  and 4mm +
nonmembranous +
30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br /> (40 cm400 mm <br />0.4 m <br />) +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
lanceolate +  and linear-lanceolate +
0-subcoriaceous +
thin;1cm;5cm +
deciduous +
cauline +  and basal +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
undulate +, flat +  and entire +
smaller +
narrower +
swollen +
partly +  and foliaceous +
deciduous +  and persistent +
cylindric +
membranous +
anatropous +, , +  and orthotropous +
accrescent +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.7 cm17 mm <br />0.017 m <br />) +
spreading;erect +
red;pinkish;red;pinkish;green +
campanulate +
accrescent +
fleshy +, indurate +  and membranous +
Flowering spring–early summer. +
(2-)3(-4)-carpellate +
100 cm1,000 mm <br />1 m <br /> (150 cm1,500 mm <br />1.5 m <br />) +
40 cm400 mm <br />0.4 m <br /> (100 cm1,000 mm <br />1 m <br />) +
slender;stout +
Weedy +, Illustrated +  and Endemic +
producing axillary shoots +  and simple +
decumbent +  and procumbent +
ascending +, , +  and erect +
papillose-pubescent +  and glabrous +
1/3 +  and 1/2 +
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 verticillatus +
Rumex sect. Axillares +
species +
lobed +  and laciniate +
coriaceous +
persistent +
membranous +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
rugose +  and punctate +
stoloniferous +  and rhizomatous +
nearly +  and glabrous +
10 +, 9 +, 8 +  and 7 +