Rumex alpinus

Last updated

Rumex alpinus
Polygonaceae - Rumex alpinus.jpg
Rumex alpinus at the Giardino Botanico Alpino Chanousia
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Rumex
Species:
R. alpinus
Binomial name
Rumex alpinus
L.

Rumex alpinus, common name monk's-rhubarb, [1] Munk's rhubarb [2] or Alpine dock, is a leafy perennial herb in the family Polygonaceae. It is native to upland areas of Europe and Western Asia.

Contents

Description

Rumex alpinus is a perennial plant with a creeping rhizome. It can reach a height of 60 to 200 centimetres (24 to 79 in). The stem is erect, striated and unbranched until just below the inflorescence. The leaves are very large, ovate-round, with long stout leaf stalks and irregular margins. The basal leaves have a hairless upper surface but have some hairs beside the veins on the lower surface. The upper leaves are alternate and are smaller and more elongated. Where their stalks meet the stem there is a membranous ochrea formed by the fusion of two stipules into a sheath which surrounds the stem and has a ragged upper margin. The flowers are arranged in much-branched, dense terminal compound panicles. The flowers are dioecious and anemophilous. The perianth segments are in two whorls of three. The outer ones are recurved and the inner ones form fruit valves, which are roundly, wider than long, with cordate bases and entire margins. There are six stamens, a pistil formed of three fused carpels, and three styles. The fruits are brown, three-sided achenes. The flowers bloom from June to August. [3]

Distribution

Monk's rhubarb growing on the Feldalpe in the Alps below the Giebel mountain. Behind: the Grosser Wilder and Schneck. Rumex alpinus 240708.jpg
Monk's rhubarb growing on the Feldalpe in the Alps below the Giebel mountain. Behind: the Großer Wilder and Schneck.

Monk's-rhubarb is native to Central and Southern Europe and to Western Asia. It is naturalized in Britain.

Habitat

This species prefers high-altitude environments rich in nitrates, at elevation of up to 2,000 to 2,400 metres (6,600 to 7,900 ft) above sea level. It can be found in arable land, fields, yards, rubbish dumps, roadsides and shores. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Bistorta officinalis</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae

Bistorta officinalis, known as bistort, common bistort, European bistort or meadow bistort, is a species of flowering plant in the dock family Polygonaceae native to Europe and northern and western Asia. Other common names include snakeroot, snake-root, snakeweed and Easter-ledges.

<i>Rumex</i>

The docks and sorrels, genus Rumex, are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distribution, and introduced species growing in the few places where the genus is not native.

<i>Rumex obtusifolius</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae

Rumex obtusifolius, commonly known as bitter dock, broad-leaved dock, bluntleaf dock, dock leaf or butter dock, is a perennial plant in the family Polygonaceae. It is native to Europe, but is found on all temperate continents. It is a highly invasive species in some zones, resulting from its abundant seed dispersal, adaptability to reproduce, aggressive roots, ability to tolerate extreme climates, and hardiness.

<i>Pulmonaria longifolia</i>

Pulmonaria longifolia, is a semi-evergreen clump-forming herbaceous perennial plant, native to western Europe, including Britain, France, Spain, Portugal. It grows in semi-shaded habitats, such as woodland and scrub, to 2000 m above sea level.

<i>Veronica persica</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae

Veronica persica is a flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae. It is native to Eurasia and is widespread as an introduced species in the British Isles, North America, eastern Asia, including Japan and China, and Australia and New Zealand.

<i>Lepidium draba</i> Species of flowering plant

Lepidium draba, the whitetop or hoary cress, or Thanet cress, is a rhizomatous perennial flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is native to western Asia and southeastern Europe and widely introduced elsewhere.

<i>Salvia pratensis</i>

Salvia pratensis, the meadow clary or meadow sage, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, western Asia and northern Africa. The specific epithet pratensis refers to its tendency to grow in meadows. It also grows in scrub edges and woodland borders.

<i>Campanula latifolia</i>

Campanula latifolia, the giant bellflower, is a species of bellflower in the family Campanulaceae. It is also known as the large campanula and the wide-leaved bellflower. It is native to Europe and western Asia and is widely grown as an ornamental plant.

<i>Gunnera tinctoria</i>

Gunnera tinctoria, known as giant rhubarb or Chilean rhubarb, is a flowering plant species native to southern Chile and neighbouring zones in Argentina. It is unrelated to rhubarb, as the two plants belong into different orders, but looks similar from a distance and has similar culinary uses. It is a large-leaved perennial plant that grows to more than two metres tall. It has been introduced to many parts of the world as an ornamental plant and in some countries it has spread from gardens and is becoming a weed problem. It is known under the synonyms: Gunnera chilensis Lam. and Gunnera scabra Ruiz & Pav.

<i>Rumex longifolius</i>

Rumex longifolius, commonly known as the dooryard dock or northern dock, is a perennial species of plant in the genus Rumex.

<i>Campanula trachelium</i>

Campanula trachelium, the nettle-leaved bellflower, is a species of bellflower. It is a Eurasian blue wildflower native to Denmark and England and now naturalized in southeast Ireland. It is also found southward through much of Europe into Africa.

<i>Lathyrus sylvestris</i>

Lathyrus sylvestris, the flat pea or narrow-leaved everlasting-pea, is a plant species of the genus Lathyrus. It is native to parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia.

<i>Stachys sylvatica</i>

Stachys sylvatica, commonly known as hedge woundwort, whitespot, or sometimes as hedge nettle, is a perennial herb growing to 80 cm tall in woodland and unmanaged grassland. In temperate zones of the northern hemisphere it flowers in July and August. The flowers are purple. The leaves, when crushed or bruised, give off an unpleasant fetid smell.

<i>Campanula persicifolia</i>

Campanula persicifolia, the peach-leaved bellflower, is a flowering plant species in the family Campanulaceae. It is an herbaceous perennial growing to 1 m. Its flowers are cup-shaped and can be either lilac-blue or white. Its foliage is narrow and glossy with a bright green appearance.

<i>Rumex hydrolapathum</i>

Rumex hydrolapathum, the great water dock, water dock, or giant water dock, is a species of perennial herbaceous plants in the genus Rumex native to fens and freshwater banks of Europe and Western Asia. It is the tallest species in the genus, with flowering stems attaining a height of up to 2 m. It is one of the small number of decaploid organisms, containing two hundred individual chromosomes.

<i>Lathyrus palustris</i>

Lathyrus palustris is a species of wild pea known by the common name marsh pea. It is native to Europe, Asia, and North America. It is a perennial herb with leaves made up of oval-shaped or oblong leaflets a few centimeters long. It has branched, coiled tendrils. The plant bears an inflorescence of two to eight pinkish purple pea flowers each up to two centimeters wide. The fruit is a dehiscent legume pod.

<i>Rumex patientia</i>

Rumex patientia, known as patience dock, garden patience, herb patience, or monk's rhubarb, is a herbaceous perennial plant species of the genus Rumex, belonging to the family Polygonaceae. In spring it is often consumed as a leaf vegetable in Southern Europe, especially in Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia. It is also used in Romania in spring broths or sarmale.

<i>Potentilla norvegica</i>

Potentilla norvegica is a species of cinquefoil known by the common names rough cinquefoil, ternate-leaved cinquefoil, and Norwegian cinquefoil. It is native to Europe, Asia, and parts of North America, and it can be found elsewhere as an introduced species.

<i>Rumex salicifolius</i>

Rumex salicifolius is a species of flowering perennial plant in the knotweed family known by the common names willow dock and willow-leaved dock. It is native to much of western North America, and more specifically, in southern and central parts of California, and some parts of Arizona and Nevada. It can also be found in parts of Europe as an introduced species and a roadside weed. It is an extremely variable plant which is generally divided into many varieties, some of which may actually be specimens of other species.

<i>Geranium nodosum</i>

Geranium nodosum, the knotted crane's-bill, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Geraniaceae.

References

  1. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. "Rumex alpinus". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA . Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Monk's rhubarb: Rumex alpinus". NatureGate. Retrieved 2013-12-30.