Skip to main content

R. acetosella is perennial, reproducing by both creeping roots and seed. It has relatively shallow, extensive slender roots. Early growth is as basal rosettes of leaves. Leaves are 1-8 cm long, smooth, variable in shape but primarily consisting of three lobes, primary lobe is linear to egg-shaped terminating in a point;two secondary lobes appear at the base of the primary lobe and point outwards giving an arrowhead-shape appearance to the leaves which are sour in taste. It has long basal leaf stalks and short-stalked to sessile leaves on the upper stem;a membranous sheath (modified stipules) surrounds the stem above the leaf base. Multiple stems can appear from a single crown growing upright, 15-40 cm in height, slender, branching near the top to form a loose leafless panicle. Flowers are unisexual with male and female appearing on separate plants (dioecious). Males have six stamens on short filaments, females have three styles with branched stellate stigma. Flowers consist of three inner and three outer tepals, appearing red to yellowish, borne on raceme near the top of the stem. Flower stalks are jointed close to the flower. Seeds are three sided (achenes), ca. 1.5 mm in length, shiny reddish brown in colour. A reddish brown hull often adheres to the seed and is rough in texture (Buchholtz et al., 1954;Hitchcock and Cronquist, 1981;Gleason and Cronquist, 1991;Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994;Douglas et al., 1999).

Related invasive species

  • Rumex acetosella

Related Farm Practice

  • Pests
  • Hosts

Related location

  • Canada
Impact

Holm et al. (1997) listed Rumex acetosella as one of the world’s worst weeds, infesting 45 different crops in 70 countries. In 1891, the government of New South Wales pronounced R. acetosella to be one of the worst weeds introduced into Australia (Holm et al., 1997). Although R. acetosella is not shade tolerant, it still may be competitive in forage situations where grazing opens up the canopy (Leege et al., 1981). Its ability to recover quickly from grazing or clipping impacts also aids in its persistence in grassland and pasture habitats (Val and Crawley, 2004). Another aspect increasing the invasiveness of R. acetosella is its relatively large seedbank (Frankton and Mulligan, 1987).

Has Cabi datasheet ID
48056
Hosts

R. acetosella has been listed among the world’s worst weeds, infesting 45 different crops in 70 countries (Holm et al., 1997). It is a serious pest of lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) in Eastern Canada (McCully et al., 1991;Stopps et al., 2011). R. acetosella impacts blueberry yield via reduced floral bud numbers that result in considerably lower yields (Kennedy et al., 2010).

Oss tagged
x

Please add some content in Animated Sidebar block region. For more information please refer to this tutorial page:

Add content in animated sidebar