Red Sorrel, Rumex acetosella
Family: Polygonaceae; Buckwheat Family
Vegetative Characteristics:
Seedling: cotyledons glabrous, spatulate; leaves green, petioled
Stems: erect, 20.0-40.0 cm tall, square, 1 to several from rhizomes, usually unbranched below panicle
Leaves: alternate, 5.0-20.0 mm wide, 2.0-5.0 cm long, variable in size, usually 3-lobed; terminal lobe narrowly elliptic to oblong, lateral lobes smaller, triangular, divergent; lower and median leaves petiolate, as long as blades; ocrea thin, membranous
Reproductive Characteristics:
Inflorescences: dioecious, occasionally polygamous, inflorescence sometimes half as long as shoot; pedicel jointed next to flower, outer tip lanceolate, inner tip in male florets, 1.5-2.0 mm, obovate; female florets broadly ovate, stalks about as lng as calyx; calyx valve ovate, blunt apically, not membranous-winged
Fruits: achene, 0.9-1.5 mm long, not or only slightly enlarged during maturation, reticulate-nerved; brown, golden brown, or reddish; lustrous; calyx adhering to achene
Special Identifying Characteristics:
⇒ erect, slender, proliferating from buds on rhizome-like roots; commonly suffused with reddish purple pigment throughout; stems square; leaves arrow- or lance-shaped
