Rumex pulcher L., Polygonaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results: 

Reject, score: 16 (Go to the risk assessment (Australia))
Reject, score: 11 (Go to the risk assessment (U.S. (Florida)))

Common name(s): [more details]

English: fiddle dock, red dock

French: parelle violon, patience violon, rumex violon

Spanish: aceda de culebra, acedera de hojas, mollerosa, partidas, romaza común, romaza silvestre, romaza violín

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Lower leaves small, somewhat crisped marginally, cordate at the base, often pubescent; branches of the panicle very divergent, often intricate in fruit; flower verticels partly with leaves, all remote; pedicels thick, not longer than the fruit, jointed at the middle; valves toothed, 4.5-6 mm long, 2.5-4.5 mm wide, usually all bearing a grain, but the grains often unequal in size; achenes 3-4 mm long, broadest a little below the middle."  (Standley, 1937; 13(2/2):449).

Habitat/ecology:  In Western Australia, "a common weed of pastures, waterways and wasteland" (Hussey et al., 1997). In New Zealand, "pastures, waste places, roadsides, railway yards and other habitats near settlements" (Webb et al., 1988; p. 985).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Mediterranean Basin (Standley, 1937; 13(2/2):449).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 216) Common, southwest part.
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 557)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 216)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 557)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 216)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 557)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Morro Juanango	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 557)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 96)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 118) Voucher cited: MacKee 15724

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)		Hafliger, Toni J./Wolf, Matthias (1988) (p. 311)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Hafliger, Toni J./Wolf, Matthias (1988) (p. 311)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 181)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)		Hafliger, Toni J./Wolf, Matthias (1988) (p. 311)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 985)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Rumex pulcher is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Rumex pulcher as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Rumex pulcher may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Hafliger, Toni J./Wolf, Matthias. 1988. Dicot weeds, vol. 1. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 335 pp.

Hussey, B. M. J./Keighery, G. J./Cousens, R.D./Dodd, J./Lloyd, S. G. 1997. Western weeds, a guide to the weeds of Western Australia. Plant Protection Society of Western Australia.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Macbride, J. Francis. 1936. Flora of Peru. Field Museum of Natural History, Botanical Series, Vol. XIII. 1936-1971, 6 parts.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Skottsberg, Carl. 1953. The natural history of Juan Fernandez and Easter Island. Vol. II, Botany. Almqvist &l; Wiksells, Uppsala. 960 pp.

Standley, Paul C. 1937. Flora of Costa Rica. Field Museum of Natural History, Botanical Series. 1571 pp. .

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

Tassin, Jacques. 2005. Jacques Tassin (IAC-CIRAD), personal communication.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.