Rumex (Acetosella)

Subgen. Acetosella . Dioecious (very rarely polygamous). Slender perennials. Valves seldom much longer than the nut, without tubercles. Leaves hastate or sagittate, acid-tasting.

(1-3). R. acetosella group. Members of this group may be recognized by the hastate or sagittate leaves with distinct basal lobes, and the valves of the fruit about the same size as the nut. The species are critical and have only recently been recognized as distinct, and their distribution is still imperfectly known. There is much variation in leaf-shape, and 1 and 3 sometimes have the basal lobes of the leaves divided.

1 Valves not separable from the nut 1. angiocarpus

1 Valves separable from the nut

2 Stemprocumbentorascending,withuprightbranches; inflorescence branching from below the middle; leaves often narrowly linear, the basal ones up to 10 times as long as wide 2. tenuifolius

2 Stem erect;inflorescence branchingfromor above the middle; leaves lanceolate or linear-lanceolate 3. acetosella