Rumex venosus
Encyclopedia
Rumex venosus is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family
known by the common names veiny dock, winged dock, and wild-begonia (it is not related to genus Begonia
). While not of any particular agricultural use, its cousins Rhubarb and Buckweat are. It is native to central and western North America, from southern parts of the Canadian prairies, through to Mexico.
It can be found in many types of habitat, including sagebrush
, dune
s, and other sandy areas. It is commonly found in heavily grazed pastures as livestock tend to avoid it, allowing veiny dock to spread uninhibited.
It is a perennial herb producing decumbent, spreading, or upright stem 10 to 40 centimeters tall, usually with a few branches. It grows from a creeping rhizome. The light green leaves are lance-shaped to oval with smooth or wrinkled edges, growing 5-10 centimeters long and 1-6 centimeters wide. The inflorescence
grows as either an axillary or terminal panicle and is densely flowered. The flowers themselves are not showy, being green and inconspicuous. They have 6 sepals, 6 stamen, and 1 pistil. The bright, pink colour of the flowers comes from the inner sepals of each flower when the fruit matures. The sepals enlarge to about 1.5 centimeters across, turning quite veiny, and surround the achene. Flowering period is throughout the summer.
Polygonaceae
Polygonaceae is a family of flowering plants known informally as the "knotweed family" or "smartweed family"— "buckwheat family" in the United States. The name is based on the genus Polygonum and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789 in his book, Genera Plantarum. The name refers...
known by the common names veiny dock, winged dock, and wild-begonia (it is not related to genus Begonia
Begonia
Begonia is a genus in the flowering plant family Begoniaceae and is a perennial. The only other members of the family Begoniaceae are Hillebrandia, a genus with a single species in the Hawaiian Islands, and the genus Symbegonia which more recently was included in Begonia...
). While not of any particular agricultural use, its cousins Rhubarb and Buckweat are. It is native to central and western North America, from southern parts of the Canadian prairies, through to Mexico.
It can be found in many types of habitat, including sagebrush
Sagebrush
Sagebrush is a common name of a number of shrubby plant species in the genus Artemisia native to western North America;Or, the sagebrush steppe ecoregion, having one or more kinds of sagebrush, bunchgrasses and others;...
, dune
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
s, and other sandy areas. It is commonly found in heavily grazed pastures as livestock tend to avoid it, allowing veiny dock to spread uninhibited.
It is a perennial herb producing decumbent, spreading, or upright stem 10 to 40 centimeters tall, usually with a few branches. It grows from a creeping rhizome. The light green leaves are lance-shaped to oval with smooth or wrinkled edges, growing 5-10 centimeters long and 1-6 centimeters wide. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
grows as either an axillary or terminal panicle and is densely flowered. The flowers themselves are not showy, being green and inconspicuous. They have 6 sepals, 6 stamen, and 1 pistil. The bright, pink colour of the flowers comes from the inner sepals of each flower when the fruit matures. The sepals enlarge to about 1.5 centimeters across, turning quite veiny, and surround the achene. Flowering period is throughout the summer.