Rumex maritimus 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 maritimus L.

• Description

  Species Description - Fibrous-rooted, hollow-stemmed annual to 8 dm, often bushy-branched; lvs narrowly lanceolate to oblong-linear, the larger commonly truncate to subcordate at base, the margins often crisped; panicle large and freely branched, many of the verticils subtended by small lvs; pedicels jointed near the base, twice as long as the fr; valves triangular-ovate, 2–3 mm, with 2 or 3 divergent marginal bristles on each side, the free tip triangular; grains 3; 2n=40. Shores, streambanks, and wet ground, avoiding acid soils; widespread in Eurasia, and irregularly in N. and S. Amer. Typical R. maritimus is European. We have 2 vars. Var. fueginus (Phil.) Dusén, widespread in both N. and S. Amer., has narrowly lanceolate grains, 0.3–0.4 mm wide and tapering to the summit, and the valves have relatively long marginal bristles, to ca 2.5 mm. Var. persicarioides (L.) R. S. Mitch., occurring in coastal marsh areas from L.I. and Mass. to Que., and from n. Calif. to B.C., has broader, ellipsoid grains, 0.4–0.6 mm wide and rounded to the summit, nearly concealing the body of the valve, which has shorter marginal bristles, 0.5–1.5 mm. (R. persicarioides, but the name often misapplied to var. fueginus)

• Common Names

  golden dock