Tropical Dock

Description

Rumex obovatus Danser, Ned. Kruidk. Arch. 1920: 241, figs. 1-3. 1921. Plants annual [sometimes biennial or perennial in tropics], glabrous or nearly so, with fusiform, vertical rootstock. Stems erect, branched distal to middle or in distal 2/ 3, 20-40(-70) cm. Leaves: ocrea deciduous or partially persistent at maturity; blade usually distinctly obovate, widest distal to middle, rarely weakly panduriform, 4-7(-11) - 2-5 cm, less than 4 times as long as wide, coriaceous, base cuneate, rarely almost truncate, margins entire, flat, rarely slightly undulate, apex obtuse or rounded. Inflorescences terminal, occupying distal 2 of stem, usually lax, occasionally rather dense, interrupted in basal 2, broadly paniculate, branches usually straight, unbranched, forming angle of 45- with 1st-order stem, leafy almost to top. Pedicels articulated in proximal 1/ 3, thickened, 3-5 mm, articulation distinctly swollen. Flowers 10-20 in rather dense whorls; inner tepals ovate-triangular or triangular-deltoid, 4-5(-5.5) - 2.4-3 mm (excluding teeth), ca. 1.5 times as long as wide, base truncate, margins distinctly dentate, apex acute to subacute, straight, teeth 3-5, normally at each side of margins, narrowly triangular or subulate, straight, 0.4-2.5 mm, equaling or shorter than width of inner tepals; tubercles usually 3, equal or subequal, apex obtuse, distinctly verrucose. Achenes brown, 2.3-2.8(-3) - 1.4-1.8 mm. Flowering summer. Mostly coastal habitats: sea shores, river deltas; 0-50 m; introduced; Fla., La.; South America; introduced in Europe.