''Rumex fueginus'', known as American dock, golden dock, and Tierra del Fuego dock, is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is based on the genus ''Polygonum'', and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789 ...

. ''Rumex fueginus'' was first formally named by Rodolfo Armando Phillipi. ''Rumex fueginus'' is native from Canada in northern North America to

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...

at the southern tip of South America. It has previously been considered a subspecies or variety of '' Rumex maritimus'', a Eurasian species.

Description

''Rumex fueginus'' is an annual or biennial plant growing up to tall. It has long, cylindrical, spike-like clusters of flowers at the tips of their branching stems. The flowers are arranged in

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral d ...

of 15-30 slender-like stalks. Each flower is less than 1/8 inches long and three-sided with two series of tepals. The flowers are minutely hairy and can range in color from green to yellow. At the base of each inner tepal is a projection called a grain. The tepals are slightly spread out at flowering but close after pollination. Each seed is egg-shaped with a pointed tip , light brown, and less than 1.5 mm long. The leaves are alternate, ranging between 2 to 10 inches long and 1/2 to 1 inch wide. The edge of the leaf (margin) can be slightly wavy or crinkly. The seeds are 3-sided, egg-shaped with a pointed tip. ''R. fueginus'' has elongated shoots that grow during mid summer. During flood seasons, the plant's shoots are much smaller to help support water transportation.

Distribution and habitat

''Rumex fueginus'' is an annual or perennial herb that is native to most of North and South America, excluding the southeastern United States. It grows in sunny, moist environments such as wet meadows, bogs, streambeds, and ponds, as well as disturbed areas. Its habitats include saline areas such as barrier beaches, edges of saltwater ponds. Within the last 100 years, botanists have seen a significant decrease of the species' population in New York due to exotic invasive species and direct disturbances to its salt marsh habitats. Since the late 1800s, there have been 13 recorded populations of the species in New York.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q19847584 fueginus Flora of North America Flora of South America