RUMEX TUBEROSUS subsp. CRETICUS

Family and Genus:- See- POLYGONACEAE/Subgen. ACETOSA

Common Names:- Tuberous dock

Homotypic Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Rumex (L) A name used by the Roman naturalist and philosopher Pliny

for sorrel.

Tuberosus (L) Swollen, tuberous.

Creticus (L) From Crete, Cretan.

General description:- Dioecious perennial with a slightly woody stock and

several thick, tuberous roots.

Stems:-

1) 10-60 cm, ascending to erect, ridged, with long upper internodes.

Leaves:-

1) Basal and lower, long-petiolate, blade, usually 1.5-5 x l2.5 cm, sagittate to

cordate.

a) Cauline, fairly numerous, 2-6(-10) times as long as wide, with short basal lobes.

Flowers:-

1) Inflorescence, a branched raceme.

2) Valves, 3-8 x 3-8 mm, cordate-orbicular, reticulate-veined, with small tubercles.

a) outer perianth segments, deflexed in fruit.

Fruit:-

1) Achene, trigonous, often with a round tubercle on one or all three sides.

Key features:-

1) Cauline leaves, fairly numerous, 2-6(-10) times as long as wide, with short basal

lobes.

2) Roots, tuberous.

3) Valves, 8 x 8 mm., rounded at apex, suborbicular.

4) Inflorescence, usually dense.

5) Branches, repeatedly branched.

Click here for a glossary of terms used

Habitat:- Dry open shrubby vegetation, deciduous scrub, olive groves and margins

of terraced fields. 0-1100 (-1700) m.

Distribution:- Aegean area and W Anatolia. Fairly widespread across Crete.

Flowering time:- Mar-June(-July).

Photos by:- Steve Lenton