Family |
Polygonaceae
Rumex bucephalophorus
L.
Rumex bucephalophorus L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 336 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, pp. 393–394, Pl. CXXIX, 6; 1966)
Description
Life-form & habit: Annual with a slender taproot and one or several erect or ascending stems, 5–40 cm long.
Leaves: Lower leaves obovate or oblong-lanceolate, up to 4 × 2 cm, tapering into a stalk, with rounded, blunt or triangular tips. Blades smooth, flat and entire, without prominent veins. Upper leaves smaller and narrower. Membranous leaf-base sheaths become torn with age.
Inflorescence & flowers: Whorls of 1–4 flowers form long, narrow, tapering spikes, loose below and dense above, with leaves only near the base. Fruiting stalks are jointed just above the base; their upper section is strongly swollen, club-shaped and curved backwards.
Fruit: Leathery, oblong-triangular valves with a basal callosity and prominent veins. Mouterde’s local subsp. hipporegii has broadly triangular valves with long, somewhat hook-curved teeth.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: February–May.
Habitat & elevation: Wooded or grassy places, especially on sandy ground.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Saida, Khalde, Nahr Damour, Bir Hassen, Beirut, Antelias, Nahr el Kelb, Tripoli, Ain Besabba, Kleyyat, Mayrouba, Rayfoun, Bikfaya and Rachaya.
Syrian distribution: Tartous, Banias and Qalaat Marqab.
Recorded locations: Bekish.
Native range: Albania, Algeria, Azores, Baleares, Canary Is., Corse, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., France, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Sardegna, Sicilia, Sinai, Spain, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe.
Introduced into: Germany, Louisiana.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Mouterde assigns the regional plants to subsp. hipporegii (Steinh.) Rech.f.; Kew treats that name as a synonym of R. bucephalophorus subsp. bucephalophorus. The historical localities and distinguishing fruit character above concern those regional plants; Kew’s range below is for the whole species.