Rumex crispus

"Notes: Western Ghats, Evergreen Forests, Naturalized, Native of Mediterranean Region"

This adventive perennial plant is 1–3' tall and little branched, except where the flowers occur. Initially, it consists of a rosette of basal leaves about 1' across. A flowering stalk bolts from this rosette during the late spring. This stalk is round in cirumference, hairless, and ribbed. The alternate cauline leaves are up to 6" long and 1" across (excluding their petioles). They are oblong-lanceolate, hairless, and dull green. Their margins are crisped and undulate up and down. Their petioles are up to 2" long, becoming broader at the base. The basal leaves have a similar appearance, except that they are somewhat larger in size, their petioles are longer, and their margins are less crisped or wavy. The inflorescence consists of a panicle of racemes with whorls of flowers; it is about ½–1½' long. Each plant has perfect (bisexual) and pistillate (female) flowers; they are pollinated by the wind.  Each yellowish or reddish green flower is about 1/8" long and consists of 3 inner sepals, 3 outer sepals, 3 styles, and an ovary. Perfect flowers also have 6 stamens. There are no petals. Each flower has a drooping pedicel about ¼" in length. The blooming period occurs during the summer and lasts about a month. There is no floral scent. Each flower matures into a dry fruit about 1/6" long that contains a single seed. The inner sepals become larger in size and membranous (at this stage, they are often called 'valves'). Each membranous sepal is cordate-oval in shape and only slightly indented or well-rounded at the base. There is an elongated tubercule that is about 1/3–1/2 the length of the sepal. The margin of each sepal can be smooth or irregularly undulate, but it lacks conspicuous teeth of any kind. The fruit and stems of Curly Dock become dark brown with maturity. The rather large seeds are dark brown and 3-angled, tapering at their tips. They are distributed to some extent by wind or water while adhering to the membranous wings of the fruit. The root system consists of a stout taproot that has a pale yellow interior. This plant spread by reseeding itself. Cultivation

Erect perennial herb. Leaves lanceolate; margin usually undulate and strongly crisped. Inflorescence usually simple or little branched. Fruit perianth segments ovate-cordate, usually all three with tubercles; margin entire or minutely dentate.

crispus: with a wavy or curled margin

Curly Dock is a common plant that probably occurs in every county of Illinois (see Distribution Map). It is native to Eurasia and was first observed in the United States during the 18th century. Habitats include seeps, glades, weedy meadows (including areas prone to occasional flooding), pastures and fallow fields, vacant lots, roadside banks and gravelly areas along railroads, edges of yards and gardens, and miscellaneous waste areas. Disturbed areas are preferred. Faunal Associations

Nile Valley North of Nubia (Location: Delta).

Cosmopolitan weed.

Rumex magellanicus Campd.:
Argentina (South America)
Chile (South America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Rumex crispus L.:
Argentina (South America)
Burma (Asia)
Bolivia (South America)
Brazil (South America)
Canada (North America)
Chile (South America)
Costa Rica (Mesoamerica)
Ecuador (South America)
Guatemala (Mesoamerica)
Honduras (Mesoamerica)
Japan (Asia)
Kyrgyzstan (Asia)
Kazakhstan (Asia)
Mexico (Mesoamerica)
Mongolia (Asia)
Madagascar (Africa & Madagascar)
Nicaragua (Mesoamerica)
Panama (Mesoamerica)
Peru (South America)
Russian Federation (Asia)
South Korea (Asia)
Thailand (Asia)
United States (North America)
South Africa (Africa & Madagascar)
China (Asia)
Colombia (South America)
Venezuela (South America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

introduced; St. Pierre and Miquelon; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr. (Nfld.), N.W.T., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon; Ala., Alaska, Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis., Wyo.; Eurasia; introduced almost worldwide.

Gansu, Guizhou, ?Hainan, Heilongjiang, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Yunnan, ?Zhejiang [Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Russia, Thailand; Europe, North America; widely naturalized elsewhere].

Europe, Macaronesia and most of Africa; widely naturalised elsewhere.

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Distribution: Probably indigenous in Europe and SW Asia; evidently rare in Pakistan and India. Introduced and largely naturalized over most parts of the world except the Arctic and the Tropics.

Plants perennial, occasionally bi-ennial, glabrous or very indis-tinctly papillose normally only on veins of leaf blades abaxially, with fusiform, vertical rootstock. Stems erect, branched distal to middle, 40-100(-150) cm. Leaves: ocrea deciduous, rarely partially persistent at maturity; blade lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate or lanceolate-linear, normally 15-30(-35) × 2-6 cm, base cuneate, truncate, or weakly cordate, margins entire to subentire, strongly crisped and undulate, apex acute. Inflorescences terminal, occupying distal 2 of stem, dense or interrupted at base, narrowly to broadly paniculate, branches usually straight or arcuate. Pedicels articulated in proximal 3, filiform, (3-)4-8 mm, articulation distinctly swollen. Flowers 10-25 in whorls; inner tepals orbiculate-ovate or ovate-deltoid, 3.5-6 × 3-5 mm, base truncate or subcordate, margins entire or subentire to very weakly erose, flat, apex obtuse or subacute; tubercles normally 3, rarely 1 or 2, unequal, at least 1 distinctly larger, more than (1-)1.5 mm wide. Achenes usually reddish brown, 2-3 × 1.5-2 mm. 2n = 60.

Perennial with tap root. Stem erect, up to 1 m high. Branches erect or erect-patent forming a narrow panicle. Leaves all lanceolate, narrowed at both ends, acute, crispate, up to 30 cm long and up to 6 cm broad, broadest in the middle; petiole shorter than the blade; stem leaves similar, upwards gradually smaller, narrower and with shorter petiole. Flower whorls many-flowered, contiguous, the lowest ones only remote and with a subtending leaf. Pedicels thin, of varyig length, usually about twice as long as the valves. External perianth segments appressed to the valves, nearly as long as half of the breadth of the valves. Valves usually 4-5 mm long and broad, rotundate or subtriangular-cordate, finely articulate, entire or subentire, all or the anterior one grain bearing. Nut c. 3 mm long, brown, broadest below the middle.

Herbs perennial. Roots large. Stems erect, 50-120(-150) cm tall, simple or branched above, glabrous, grooved. Basal leaves shortly petiolate, lanceolate or narrowly lanceolate, 10-25 × 2-5 cm, glabrous or indistinctly papillose along veins below, base usually cuneate to truncate, margin strongly crisped and undulate, apex acute; cauline leaves shortly petiolate, narrowly lanceolate, small; ocrea fugacious, membranous. Inflorescence terminal, paniculate, narrow; branches erect or ascending. Flowers bisexual. Pedicel slender, articulate in proximal third, articulation distinctly swollen. Inner tepals enlarged in fruit; valves broadly ovate, 3.5-6 × 3-5 mm, all with tubercles, rarely only 1 valve bearing a tubercle, conspicuously net veined, base nearly truncate, margin entire, rarely weakly erose, apex obtuse to subacute; tubercle ovate, 1.5-2 mm. Achenes dark brown, shiny, ovoid, trigonous, ca. 2 mm, apex acute. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jun-Jul. 2n = 60.

Lapathum crispum (Linnaeus) Scopoli.

Lapathum crispum (Linnaeus) Scopoli

R. elongatus Guss., Pl. Rar. 150: pl. 128. 1826.

Curly Dock is a common plant that probably occurs in every county of Illinois (see Distribution Map). It is native to Eurasia and was first observed in the United States during the 18th century. Habitats include seeps, glades, weedy meadows (including areas prone to occasional flooding), pastures and fallow fields, vacant lots, roadside banks and gravelly areas along railroads, edges of yards and gardens, and miscellaneous waste areas. Disturbed areas are preferred. Faunal Associations

Very broad range of ruderal, segetal, and seminatural habitats, disturbed soil, waste places, cultivated fields, roadsides, meadows, shores of water bodies, edges of woods; 0-2500m.

Field margins, streamsides, waste areas; sea level to 2500 m.

Foodplant / feeds on
larva of Apion frumentarium feeds on leaf (petiole base) of Rumex hydrolapathum

Foodplant / internal feeder
larva of Apion hydrolapathi feeds within stem of Rumex hydrolapathum

Foodplant / sap sucker
adult of Coreus marginatus sucks sap of seed of Rumex hydrolapathum

Fungus / parasite
cleistothecium of Erysiphe polygoni parasitises live Rumex hydrolapathum

Foodplant / open feeder
imago of Galerucella sagittariae grazes on leaf of Rumex hydrolapathum

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / open feeder
larva of Hypera rumicis grazes on leaf of Rumex hydrolapathum

Foodplant / spot causer
clustered aecium of Puccinia phragmitis causes spots on live leaf of Rumex hydrolapathum

Foodplant / spot causer
hypophyllous colony of Ramularia anamorph of Ramularia pratensis causes spots on live leaf of Rumex hydrolapathum
Remarks: season: 5-10

Foodplant / parasite
telium of Uromyces rumicis parasitises live Rumex hydrolapathum

Foodplant / feeds on
larva of Apion frumentarium feeds on leaf (petiole base) of Rumex crispus

Foodplant / internal feeder
larva of Apion hydrolapathi feeds within stem of Rumex crispus

Foodplant / gall
embedded sorus of Bauhinus parlatorei causes gall of live leaf of Rumex crispus

Foodplant / sap sucker
adult of Coreus marginatus sucks sap of seed of Rumex crispus

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / open feeder
larva of Hypera rumicis grazes on leaf of Rumex crispus

Foodplant / saprobe
long stalked apothecium of Lachnum virgineum is saprobic on dead stem of Rumex crispus
Remarks: season: 2-8

Foodplant / parasite
pycnium of Puccinia phragmitis parasitises live Rumex crispus

Foodplant / parasite
colony of Ramularia anamorph of Ramularia rubella parasitises live leaf of Rumex crispus
Remarks: season: 3-11

Foodplant / parasite
telium of Uromyces rumicis parasitises live Rumex crispus

Foodplant / parasite
embedded sorus of Ustilago parlatorei parasitises live petiole of Rumex crispus

Foodplant / spot causer
immersed pseudothecium of Venturia rumicis causes spots on fading leaf of Rumex crispus
Remarks: season: 11-7

Local

Flowering late spring-early fall.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 8
Specimens with Barcodes: 14
Species With Barcodes: 1

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 6
Specimens with Barcodes: 32
Species With Barcodes: 1

Rounded Global Status Rank: TNR - Not Yet Ranked

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable