Compilation
Rumex paucifolius

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Name

Identification
Rumex paucifolius Nutt. [family POLYGONACEAE ] (stored under name);
Related name
  • Rumex engelmannii
  • Rumex acetosa
  • Rumex paucifolius
Common name
  • Alpine sheep sorrel, Flora of North America Vol. 5

Flora

Entry for Rumex paucifolius Nuttall [family POLYGONACEAE]
Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 5,
Names
Rumex paucifolius Nuttall [family POLYGONACEAE], J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 7: 49. 1834
Acetosa gracilescens (Rechinger f.) Á. Löve & Everson [family POLYGONACEAE]
Acetosa paucifolia (Nuttall) Á. Löve [family POLYGONACEAE]
Acetosella gracilescens (Rechinger f.) Á. Löve [family ]
Acetosella paucifolia (Nuttall) Á. Löve [family ]
Rumex engelmannii Meisner var. geyeri Meisner [family POLYGONACEAE]
Rumex geyeri (Meisner) Trelease [family POLYGONACEAE]
Rumex paucifolius var. gracilescens Rechinger f. [family POLYGONACEAE]
Treatment Author(s)
Sergei L. Mosyakin
Information
Plants perennial, glabrous, with vertical rootstock and densely tufted underground stolons. Stems erect, rarely ascending, tufted at base and branched only in inflorescence, occasionally inflorescences simple or nearly so, 10–40(–60) cm. Leaves: blade normally broadly lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, usually not hastate (without basal lobes), 3–7(–10) × (0.6–)1–3(–4) cm, base narrowly cuneate (gradually narrowing into petiole), margins entire, flat, apex obtuse or subacute. Inflorescences terminal, occupying distal 2/3 of stem, usually lax and interrupted at least near base, narrowly paniculate, rarely simple. Pedicels articulated in proximal 1/3, filiform, 1–3(–5) mm, articulation slightly swollen. Flowers 3–10(–12) in whorls; inner tepals broadly ovate or almost orbiculate, 2.8–3.8 × 2.7–3.6 mm, base cordate or rounded-truncate, apex obtuse or subacute; tubercles absent. Achenes brown, 1.2–1.8 × 0.8–1 mm. 2n = 14, 28.
Phenology
mar-may (spring), jun-aug (summer), sep-nov (fall)
Altitude range
2000–3000 m;
Distribution
USA Calif.USA Colo.USA IdahoUSA Mont.USA Nev.USA Oreg.USA UtahUSA Wash.USA Wyo.Canada Alta.Canada B.C.
Discussion
Rumex paucifolius is a montane species represented by two chromosome races (diploid and tetraploid) and several ecotypes. Smaller plants from California have been described as var. gracilescens; they are tetraploids and sometimes were regarded as a separate species (Á. Löve and V. Everson 1967; Löve 1986). B. W. Smith (1968) showed that both diploids and tetraploids (and even exceptional spontaneous triploids and individuals with higher polyploid chromosome numbers) occur in many other localities within the range of the species; the differences in chromosome number are not strictly correlated with distribution or morphology. Narrow-leaved ecotypes of R. paucifolius reported by Smith sometimes resemble other narrow-leaved taxa of subg. Acetosella, especially R. beringensis. Rumex paucifolius and R. beringensis may be regarded as morphologically and karyologically transitional between subg. Acetosella and subg. Acetosa. Rumex paucifolius was placed in the monotypic subsect. Paucifoliae Á. Löve & N. Sarkar. Later, Löve transferred it to the segregate genus Acetosella, based mostly on the chromosome number of the species, but morphology suggests it is a member of subg. Acetosa. Probably the best solution of this problem was proposed by Smith, who noted that “the composite range of vegetative, reproductive, and karyotypic characteristics of the forty-odd species now included in the diversified subgenus Acetosa would be only slightly extended by the addition of the five species now classified as Acetosella” (p. 683).

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