Rumex acetosa L.
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Authority
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
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Family
Polygonaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Dioecious perennial 3–10 dm, the stems 1–few from a stout root, usually simple to the infl; lvs oblong, all or chiefly sagittate, the lower long-petioled, the upper subsessile; infl 1–2 dm, usually lfless, open, the branches mostly simple; pedicel jointed at about midlength; tep of staminate fls 2–3 mm, the outer oblong, the inner obovate; outer tep of pistillate fls triangular-ovate, nearly 2 mm, soon reflexed; valves thin, broadly round-cordate, 4–6 mm long and wide, reticulate-veiny, the midrib of at least one of them dilated at the base into an evident grain or tubercle; achene dark brown, 2–2.5 mm; 2n=14 (&), 15 (%). Native of Eurasia, in our range an occasional weed from Conn. and Pa. northward.
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Discussion
The closely related Eurasian sp. R. thyrsiflorus Fingerh., with a denser infl, the primary branches again branched, and with the lf-lobes often a little more divergent, has been reported in n. Mich. and on the s. side of the St. Lawrence R. in Que.
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Common Names
green sorrell