12. Rumex chalepensis Mill., Gard. Dict., ed. 8. no. 11. 1768; Rech. f. in Candollea 12: 109. 1949; Fl. Iran. 56: 18. t. 8. f. 9. 1968; Kitamura, Fl. Afgh. 95. 1960; Cullen in P.H.Davis, Fl. Turk. 2: 291. 1967; R. R. Stewart, l.c. 213; Bhopal & Chaudhri in Pak. Syst. 1(2): 95. 1977; Munshi & Javeid, l.c. 94. (Fig.26, A-C).
R. denticulatus C. Koch in Linnaea 22: 208. 1840 non Campd.; R. syriacus Meisn. in DC. Prodr. 14: 53. 1856; Losinsk., l.c. 477; R. dictyocarpus Boiss. & Buhse in Nouv. Mém. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 12: 192. 1860. R. obtusifolius Boiss., Fl. Or. 4: 1011. 1879 p.p.; R. turkestanicus O. Paulsen in Bot. Tidsskr. 29: 154. 1909. R. drobovi E. Korov., Opred. Rast. Okr. Taschkent 154. 1924.
Perennial. Stem erect, up to 120 cm high, branching in the upper half; branches arcuate-divaricate, forming a broad open panicle. Basal leaves 2-3 times longer than broad, up to 20 cm long, ovate-oblong or ovate with cordate base, acute or subacute apex, petiole shorter than lamina; lower stem leaves with slightly cordate base, ovate-lanceolate, acute; upper stem leaves gradually smaller and narrower acute with short petiole; all leaves flat or nearly so. Whorl many-flowered, all ± remote. Pedicels thin, articulate below the middle, slightly longer or up to twice as long as the valve. External perianth segments c. 1.5 mm long. Valves c. 5 x c.5 mm, (rotundate-) cordate, with ± acute tip, distinctly regularly reticulate, with 4-9 unequal teeth near the base, usually all with unequal grains. Nut c. 3 mm long, brown, broadest ± slightly below the middle.
Fl. Per.: May-August.
Type: Aleppo (BM !).
Distribution: Armenia, Transcaucasia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and C. Asia.
The occurrence of this Irano-Turanian element in E. Asia is in need of verification on the basis of complete specimens. The specimen Santapau 6625 from Urak has exceptional basal leaves: 4 times broader than long.
