Rumex salicifolius Weinm.

Willow dock (en), Oseille (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Caryophyllales > Polygonaceae > Rumex

Characteristics

Plants perennial, glabrous, with vertical rootstock. Stems erect or ascending, usually producing axillary shoots below 1st-order inflorescence or at proximal nodes, 30-60(-90) cm. Leaf blades linear-lanceolate, occasion-ally almost linear, 5-13 × (0.5-)1-2.5 cm, usually ca. 7 or more times as long as wide, widest near middle, thin, occasionally subcoriaceous, base cuneate, margins entire, flat or rarely slightly crenulate, apex acute or attenuate. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, terminal usually occupying distal 1/5-3 of stem, rather lax, interrupted in proximal 1/ 2, or almost to top, usually narrowly paniculate (branches normally simple and short). Pedicels articulated in proximal 3 or almost near base, filiform (slightly thickened towards base of tepals), 3-5 mm, not more than 2-2.5 times as long as inner tepals, articulation indistinctly swollen. Flowers 7-20 in whorls; inner tepals broadly triangular, (1.8-)2-2.5(-3) × 1.5-2.1 mm, base broadly cuneate or truncate, margins entire or indistinctly erose, apex acute; tubercle 1, large, subequal or slightly narrower than inner tepals (then free margins of inner tepal distinctly narrower than tubercle), smooth or indistinctly verrucose. Achenes dark reddish brown, 1.8-2 × 1.1-1.3 mm. 2n = 20.
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Taprooted, glabrous perennial to 1 m, often branched; lvs flat, pale green or glaucous, narrowly lanceolate, long-tapering at both ends; infl 1–3 dm, the few ascending branches usually subtended by linear lvs; pedicels 2–4 mm, jointed near the base; valves thick, triangular, 3–6 mm long and wide, acute or subacute; grains 3, lanceolate, acute, half to two-thirds as long as the valve; 2n=20 (ours), 40. Moist, often brackish or saline soil; Que. to B.C., s. to N.Y., Pa., Ky., Mo., and Mex. (R. mexicanus, a southwestern tetraploid) Our plants, as here described, are sometimes segregated as var. triangulivalvis (Danser) Hickman. (R. t.)
A herb.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination anemogamy
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.6
Root system tap-root
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Coastal sand dunes to river banks, lake shores, mountain meadows and rocky slopes. Shores of streams and rivers, wet mountain meadows, and rocky slopes; at elevations up to 3,000 metres.
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It is a temperate plant.
Light 4-9
Soil humidity 4-6
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 4-9

Usage

The seeds are parched, pounded and cooked into a thick porridge. The stems are boiled with sugar or roasted. The inner pulp is eaten. The leaves are used as greens.
Uses dye medicinal
Edible leaves seeds stems
Therapeutic use Dermatological Aid (root), Blood Medicine (root), Cathartic (root), Analgesic (root), Gastrointestinal Aid (root), Misc. Disease Remedy (root), Orthopedic Aid (root), Unspecified (root), Unspecified (seed)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Rumex salicifolius leaf picture by Kenneth Robertson (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Rumex salicifolius world distribution map, present in Mexico and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30024727-2
WFO ID wfo-0000404013
COL ID 4TPWL
BDTFX ID 58877
INPN ID 119584
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Rumex salicifolius Rumex salicifolius var. salicifolius Rumex salicifolius subsp. salicifolius