Rumex patientia L.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Polygonaceae

• Scientific Name

  Rumex patientia L.

• Description

  Species Description - Stout, taprooted, glabrous perennial to 2 m, simple to the infl; lvs pale green, basally disposed, somewhat crisped, oblong to oblanceolate, to 15 cm wide, the larger (lower) truncate to subcordate at base, the smaller acute; lateral veins of the lvs making an angle of 45-60º with the midrib; infl to 5 dm, with stout, ascending branches subtended by reduced lvs, otherwise leafless, the verticils eventually contiguous; pedicels 5-10 mm, visibly jointed near the base; valves broadly rounded, 6-9 mm, very blunt, deeply cordate, subentire to crenate-undulate; grain 1, to a third as long as the valve; 2n=60. Native of Europe, occasionally found in waste places in our range. Hybridizes with nos. 11 [Rumex crispus L.] and 16 [Rumex obtusifolius L.].

• Discussion

  Two other closely related ruderal European spp., rarely adventive with us, have small grains, as in R. patientia, but on all 3 valves, and the valves are usually ± toothed; the lateral veins of the lvs make an angle of 60–90º with the midrib. R. cristatus DC. has red-brown valves with numerous irregular teeth ca 1 mm, and the lvs are smooth beneath. R. kerneri Borbás has dark brown valves with smaller, sometimes indistinct teeth, and the lvs are minutely papillose-scabrid beneath.

• Common Names

  patience dock