''Rumex paucifolius'' is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by the common name alpine sheep sorrel. It is native to western North America from southwestern Canada to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, where it grows in moist areas in mountainous habitat, up to areas of

alpine climate Alpine climate is the typical weather ( climate) for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions ...

. ''Rumex gracilescens'' is a variant

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to Turkey. It was on the IUCN Species Survival Commissions 1997 Red List of Threatened Plants.

Description

''Rumex paucifolius'' is a variable plant, taking many different forms depending on environment and genetics; even the

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins ar ...

count is quite variable.Flora of North America
/ref> In addition, it easily hybridizes with other ''

Rumex 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 dist ...

''. In general, it is a perennial herb producing a cluster of slender, erect stems growing to roughly half a meter in maximum height. Most of the leaves are basal. They are lance-shaped or linear and reach 9 centimeters in length. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

is an erect or bending series of many clusters of flowers, some of them widely spaced. Most specimens are

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...

, with male and female flowers occurring on separate plants. The flowers are usually red and hang from

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

, with several flowers to a cluster.

References

External links

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Jepson Manual Treatment
paucifolius Flora of the Western United States Flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Taxa named by Thomas Nuttall Dioecious plants Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Polygonaceae-stub