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Rumex spinosus

L. (1753)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-CoreEudicot Order: Caryophyllales Family: Polygonaceae Genus: Rumex

devil's thorn, prickly doc, spiny emex

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Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Annual herbs 3–8 dm tall.

Stems: Stems decumbent to ascending.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades ovate to nearly deltate, 5–42 cm long, 1.1–12 cm wide. Surfaces glabrous. Margins entire to undulate. Petioles 2–29 cm long. Stipules present, ocreae membranous or dry and membranous, the margins becoming lacerate.

Flowers: Flowers in staminate flowers in terminal and axillary, pedunculate clusters; pistillate flowers axillary, sessile. Flowers unisexual. Tepals of staminate flowers narrowly oblong–oblanceolate, ca. 1.5–2 mm long; pistillate flowers outer tepals ca. 4–6 mm long in fruit, tipped with divergent spines, inner ones erect, 5–6 mm long. Stamens in staminate flower 4–6. Ovary superior; styles 3, erect, distinct; stigmas penicillate.

Fruit: Nuts pale brown; glossy; ca. 4 mm long.

Ploidy: 2n = 20

Habitat: Open; dry to mesic; disturbed habitats.

Elevation Range: 150–1,950 m.

Historical Distribution

Images

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Uses and Culture

USES

  • Yes

Natural History

Statewide Status

Naturalized

Island Status

O'ahu Naturalized
Molokai Naturalized
Maui Naturalized

Dispersal Agents


Pollinators

Notes

  • 150-1950
  • Description digitized by Joanne
  • Description digitized from the Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii
  • Molokai in 1928

Bibliography

Name Published In: Sp. Pl.: 337 (1753)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:1060 (O, Mo, M, H [as Emex spinosa]); Parker & Parsons 2012b:71 (remove H [re-IDed as E. australis]); Schuster et al. 2015 (Syn. E. spinosa = R. spinosus)

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Rumex spinosus King Kekaulike High School, Fence line Roadside Preserved_Specimen (Not on sheet) Maui BISH 2010-04-22
2 Rumex spinosus Hoolehua, Molokai in abandoned field Preserved_Specimen Degener, O. 18174 Molokai BISH 1928-04-04
3 Rumex spinosus East Maui, along Haliimaile Road. Growing on the margins of cane fields. Preserved_Specimen Hobdy, R.W. 4307 Maui BISH 2009-03-11
4 Rumex spinosus west Molokai Indry pineapple field Preserved_Specimen Hosaka, E.Y. 505 Molokai BISH 1931-08-15
5 Rumex spinosus East Maui, along Haleakala highway, just below Pukalani edge of cane fields Preserved_Specimen Hobdy, R.W. 2382 Maui BISH 1985-04-25
6 Rumex spinosus Mokuleia, Waialua, Oahu in vacant lot Preserved_Specimen Degener, O. 27079 Oahu BISH 1960-06-26
7 Rumex spinosus Palikea, ridge ridge of pasture land Preserved_Specimen Pearsall, G.A. Oahu BISH 1954-03-24
8 Rumex spinosus Mokuleia in pasture Preserved_Specimen Caum, E.L. Oahu BISH 1932-01-01
9 Rumex spinosus Waianae Mts., along road mauka of Dillingham Airfield. Associated canopy: Casuarina equisetifolia, Schinus terebinthifolius, Leucaena leucocephala. Understory: Cynodon dactylon, Plantago major, Cerastium glomeratum, Calyptocarpus vialis, Sporobolus indicus. Preserved_Specimen Tschannen, K. 470 Oahu BISH 2018-01-16
10 Rumex spinosus Makua valley Preserved_Specimen Kerr, M. 3770 Oahu BISH 1946-03-10
11 Rumex spinosus East Maui, Waiakoa Preserved_Specimen Krauss, N.L.H. 888 Maui BISH 1963-04-21
12 Rumex spinosus Haleakala, W slope, Pukalani Preserved_Specimen Yamada, T. Maui BISH 1955-04-21
13 Rumex spinosus Kawaihapai Preserved_Specimen Swezey, O.H. Oahu BISH 1930-02-16
14 Rumex spinosus Kawaihapai Preserved_Specimen Swezey, O.H. 3770 Oahu BISH 1930-02-16
15 Rumex spinosus Ho'olehua, intersection of Mo'omomi Ave and Mokulele St Roadside in mowed grass, full sun and dry area Preserved_Specimen Faccenda, K. 2926 Molokai BISH 2022-12-27
16 Rumex spinosus west Molokai Indry pineapple field Preserved_Specimen Hosaka, E.Y. 505 Molokai BISH 1931-08-15
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