Tropicos | Name - Rumex acetosella L.

Rumex acetosella L.

Flora Data (Last Modified On 1/14/2013)

Species	RUMEX ACETOSELLA L.
PlaceOfPublication	Sp. Pl. 538. 1753.
Synonym	Acetosella acetosella (L.) Small, Man. SE. Fl. 446. 1933.
Description	Low delicate glabrous perennials with slender creeping rootstocks. Leaves glabrous, lanceolate-hastate, apically acute to rounded, 1-3 cm. long, 3-8 mm. broad; petioles 1-5 cm. long; ochreae mostly 0.5-1 cm. long, tardily deciduous. Inflorescences of panicles of remote few-flowered verticils. Flowers dioecious, on pedicels mostly less than 3 mm. long; outer tepals oblong to narrowly ovate, about 0.5 mm. long, scarcely accrescent; inner tepals broadly ovate, about 1 mm. long, scarcely accrescent, not tuberculate; stamens 6 discrete, the filaments less than 0.3 mm. long, the anthers 0.5-1 mm. long, bilocular and loculicidal; ovary trigonous, the 3 styles spreading, with 3 peltate fimbrillate stigmata. Achene triquetrous, brown, dull and rough, often slightly exserted, about 1 mm. long.
Specimen	CHIRIQUI: Cerro Punta, ca. 6025 ft., P. White i96; Valley of the upper Rio Chiriqui Viejo, P. White 6o.
Note	This species, like the former, is a native of Eurasia now widespread in temperate regions of the Americas. In Costa Rica it is called ruibarbillo. Due to its per- sistent rootstocks, this is often an obnoxious weed of lawns and pastures. It is believed to have been imported into Central America as a contaminant in grass seed.