Biology:Rumex hypogaeus

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Short description: Species of flowering plant

Rumex hypogaeus
Emex australis - Flickr - Kevin Thiele.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Rumex
Species:
R. hypogaeus
Binomial name
Rumex hypogaeus
T.M.Schust. & Reveal
Synonyms[1]

Emex australis Steinh.
Vibo australis (Steinh.) Greene

Rumex hypogaeus (synonym Emex australis), commonly known in English as southern threecornerjack,[2] devil's thorn,[citation needed] or double gee[3] (also doublegee, from the old Afrikaner name dubbeltge-doorn - 'double thorned'), is a herbaceous plant of the Polygonaceae. It is native in South Africa and is an invasive species in Australia , Texas in the USA & Pakistan .

Description

It grows to heights of from 10 to 60 cm and its stems may be prostrate, decumbent, or ascending. The base is often reddish. The leaves are stalked and without any surface covering, with the leaf blade being 1-10 by 0.5–6 cm. There are 1 to 8 flowers with stamens per sheathed bundle and these flowers have narrow oblong tepals which are 1.5–2 mm. The female flowers occur as groups of 1 to 4 per sheathed bundle, and the outer tepals are ovate to oblong and 4–6 mm in fruit, while the inner tepals are broadly triangular and, 5–6 mm in fruit. The achenes (dry 1-seeded fruits not opening at maturity) are 4-6 by 2–3 mm, and shiny.[4]

It flowers all year round.[4]

Distribution and habitat

It favours disturbed sites, on sandy soils. It is native to South Africa[1] and has become naturalised in California, Trinidad, Europe, India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Hawaii, and Australia.[4]

Weed

Common names in Australia, where it is a weed, include: spiny emex, doublegee, double gee, double-gee, three corner jack, three-cornered jack, goat's head burr, goathead, jackie, prickly jack, cape spinach, devil's face, devil's thorn, bullhead, bull head, and cat's head.[5]

Treatment

Small infestations and isolated plants of Rumex hypogaeus can be dug out. When plants are seeding then they should be destroyed by burning. Control programs work best when all plants are killed shortly after having emergence, and should continue for several years.[6][5]

Gallery

References

External links

Wikidata ☰ {{{from}}} entry