Rumex acetosella 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 acetosella L.

• Description

  Species Description - Dioecious perennial 1–4 dm from slender creeping roots; lvs variable, usually 3-lobed, the terminal lobe narrowly elliptic to oblong, the lateral much smaller, triangular, divergent; lf-base below the lobes truncate to long-cuneate; infl sometimes half the length of the shoot; pedicel jointed next to the fl; outer tep lanceolate; inner tep in male fls 1.5–2 mm, obovate, in female broadly ovate; achene 1.5 mm, shiny golden brown, closely invested by the valves; 2n=14, 28, 42. Fields, lawns, and waste places, in acid soils; native of Eurasia, naturalized throughout most of N. Amer., and highly variable.

• Common Names

  red sorrell