Plants similar to Rumex persicarioides, but with bigger tubercles and occuring along the Pacific coast from northern California to British Columbia, are, in my opinion, closer to R. fueginus in their habit and vegetative characters. K. H. Rechinger (1937) provisionally determined such specimens as R. persicarioides. J. E. Dawson (1979) noted that the Pacific plants differ from Atlantic ones in having bigger tubercles (more than 1.9 × 0.7-1 mm in western plants; less than 1.9 × 0.7 mm in eastern R. persicarioides in the narrow sense), and described these large-tubercled plants as a distinct variety, “R. maritimus var. pacificus”, unfortunately, an invalid name. However, that taxon seems to be extremely closely related to or possibly conspecific with the northeastern Asian species, R. ochotskius Rechinger f., which is known in eastern Asia from northern Japan to the Okhotsk Sea region of Russian Far East (especially Sakhalin and Kuril islands). The latter species also has large (to 2-2.5 mm) botuliform tubercles with obtuse apices. In the original description Rechinger stated: “…foliorum forma R. maritimo simillimus…,” but N. N. Tzvelev (1989b) in his recent treatment of the genus in the Russian Far East noted that most of the specimens of R. ochotskius seen by him had leaf blades rotundate-truncate or broadly cuneate at the base. The R. persicarioides-like plants from the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada (as well as their most probable allies from eastern Asia) need additional study. At present I prefer to place them provisionally into R. persicarioides, following Rechinger's treatment.
Rumex persicarioides is a flowering dicot species in the family Polygonaceae. This species flowers annually in the summer-time but on rare occasions it has been found to be biennial.[2] R. persicarioides is not cultivated for human use[3] and should not be confused with the similarly named genus Persicariae.
Rumex persicarioides was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.[4] It has been treated as a variety of Rumex maritimus (as R. maritimus var. persicarioides by R. S. Mitchell), but is accepted as a full species by other sources, including the online Flora of North America.[1][2]
R. persicarioides stands erect at about 15–75 cm in height. The plant contains papillose and pubescent protrusions in its inflorescence and on the abaxial leaf blade. The stem is mostly inflorescent, with branching mostly starting a third of the way up from the base. Shorter plants start inflorescence at the base of the stem. Flowers of R. persicarioides are straw-colored and densely whorled at the distal most end of the inflorescence. The flowers consist of triangular tepals with tooth-like margins and brown fruiting achenes. The pedicels are threadlike and weakly visible, being 3-7mm in length. The leaves of R. persicarioides are long, thin lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate blades ranging from 5–25 cm in length with vaguely undulated or entire margins. Leaf blades are either truncate or cordate at the base and acute at the tip.[2][5]
R. persicarioides thrives in wet and saline ecosystems, typically being found in coastal regions and salt marshes.[2] It is native to western Canada and the US (British Columbia, Oregon and California) and eastern Canada and the northeastern US (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York State).[1]
Rumex persicarioides is a flowering dicot species in the family Polygonaceae. This species flowers annually in the summer-time but on rare occasions it has been found to be biennial. R. persicarioides is not cultivated for human use and should not be confused with the similarly named genus Persicariae.
