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Plants have a long history of use for their medicinal properties. The complexity of botanical extracts presents unique challenges and necessitates the application of innovative approaches to correctly identify and quantify bioactive compounds. For this study, we used untargeted metabolomics to explore the antimicrobial activity of Rumex crispus (yellow dock), a member of the Polygonaceae family used as an herbal remedy for bacterial infections. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass-spectrometry (UPLC-MS) was used to identify and quantify the known antimicrobial compound emodin. In addition, we used biochemometric approaches to integrate data measuring antimicrobial activity from R. crispus root starting material and fractions against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with UPLC-MS data. Our results support the hypothesis that multiple constituents, including the anthraquinone emodin, contribute to the antimicrobial activity of R. crispus against MRSA.

Rumex palustris Smith (1800: 394) ≡ Lapathum palustre (Sm.) Gray (1821: 275) ≡ Rumex maritimus subsp. palustris (Sm.) Hooker (1870: 312). = Rumex limosus Thuillier (1799: 182) = Lapathum limosum (Thuill.) Renault (1804: 60) ≡ Rumex maritimus subsp. limosus (Thuill.) Čelakovský (1871: 158) ≡ Rumex maritimus var. limosus (Thuill.) Formánek (1886: 25). = Rumex palustris var. nanus Bo ̈nninghausen (1824: 108). = Rumex uliginosus Gussone (1826: 151) ≡ Rumex palustris subsp. uliginosus (Guss.) Arcangeli (1882: 585). = Steinmannia flavovirens Opiz (1852: 93). = Rumex laxiflorus Saint-Lager (1889: 709). = Rumex maritimus (Linnaeus (1753: 335) ≡ Rumex palustris subsp. maritimus (L.) Bonnier & Layens (1894: 272). Description (Figs. 1 and 2A–I):— Herb annual, biennial or perennial, glabrous or rarely sparsely minute papillose, initially green, after flowering brown-reddish. Stem erect, sulcate, up to 150 cm high, branched below middle, occasionally near base. Leaves linear-lanceolate, ca. 7–30(–35) × (1.0–) 1.5–6.5 cm, apex acute, truncate to cuneate at base, margin entire and slightly undulate; basal leaves about 5–6 times longer than wide, blade lanceolate or lanceolateoblong, base truncate to broadly cuneate, with slender petiole ca. 2–14 cm long; cauline leaves lanceolate-linear gradually narrower and smaller, with shortly petiolate or subsessile ca. 0.5–1.0 cm long; ocrea fugacious, membranous. Inflorescence paniculate, arcuate branches, dense, at least 15 flowers in each whorl, reddish brown at maturity (initially green). Flowers bisexual; pedicels jointed at base, slightly longer or as long as the valves, ca. 2–6(–7) mm long, unequal, filiform, erect to curved, articulated near base or below middle (ca. 1/3–1/4 from base); outer perianth segments lanceolate, small, ca. 2.0–2.5 × 0.5–0.7 mm; inner tepals (or valves) rhombic-triangular or linguliform, longer than outers, ca. 3–4(–5) × (1.0–)1.5–2.0 mm, straight, apex acute, base truncate or broadly cuneate, reticulated veins on the surface, all valves distinctly denticulate at margin (tepales spiny margined) and tuberculate on the back; teeth subulatefiliform, 2–3 on each margins, bristle-like, straight, rarely curved, ca. 1.3–2.8 mm long, equaling or slightly longer than valve width; tubercles oblong, large, equal or subequal, ca. 2 × 0.5–0.7 mm, obtuse. smooth (striate in herbarium specimens), initially white-greenish, after fruiting brown-reddish; stamens 6, filaments filiform, thin, ca. 1.0–1.3(–1.5) mm long, anther oblong, ca. 1.0– 1.5 mm long, yellow; ovary ovate, with 3 (rarely 5) lateral furrows, apex acute, ca. 1–2 mm long, styles 3, filiform, short, ca. 0.5–0.7 mm long, pendant, stigmas 3, tufted. Achene ovate, sharply trigonous (rarely pentagonal), ca. 1.9–2.0(–2.1) × 0.9–1.0(–1.1) mm, bright brown to golden yellow. Phenology:— Flowering and fruiting in May–June. Chromosome number:— 2n = 40 and 60 (Rechinger 1964, Freeman & Reveal, 2005). Distribution and habitat:— Rumex palustris grows on wet sand dunes and local dune slacks covered by seasonal fresh or brackish water in the south Caspian Sea coast, N. Iran (Fig. 3). This species is accompanied by other wetland and aquatic species, such as Nasturtium officinale Aiton (1812: 110), Agrostis stolonifera Linnaeus (1753: 62) and Polypogon fugax Nees ex Steudel (1855: 184). Anatomical observations:— Micrographs of stem anatomy in Rumex palustris are shown in Figs. 4A–E. The main elements were determined to be taxonomically informative: cuticle, epidermis, collenchymatous zone, parenchymatous cortex (including laticifer cells), sclerenchymatous ring, vascular bundles and pith region (including laticifers and calcium oxalate crystals), which located from epidermis toward the central region in all transverse sections, respectively (Figs. 4A and B). The stem outline of examined species was circular, along with several protuberances in the different sizes. The outer surface of cross-sections was also surrounded by a relatively thick cuticle and uni-seriate epidermis layer with rectangular cells (Fig. 4B). Lamellar collenchyma consisting 5–10 layers was considerably observed at the ribs of stem, beneath epidermis (Fig. 4C). The parenchymatous cortex was consisted of 5–7 cell layers in circularelliptic shapes, also laticifers located in this zone, but no crystal was seen. Underlying the distinct endodermis, vascular bundles were notably surrounded by 4–7 sclerenchymatous rings. All vascular bundles were arranged in one ring (ca. 35–40 in number), regular, in form of collateral for smaller bundles (ca. 16–20), as well as bicollateral for larger ones (ca. 20–23). The central region was completely filled with parenchymatous pith enclosing intercellular spaces, and also laticifers and some sand crystals (Fig. 4D). In addition, the longitudinal sections of stem epidermal layer displayed sparsely short papilloses, along with laticifer cells on epidermis surface (Fig. 4E). In the longitudinal sections of leaf, the epidermal layer consisted of polygonal cells (such as rectangular, pentagonal and hexagonal) with straight cell walls at both upper and lower surfaces. Anisosytic stomata, calcium oxalate crystals (such as sands and druses), laticifers and peltate trichomes (short stalked, peltate glands with one or two cells) were also revealed in the leaf epidermises (Figs. 5A and B). Additionally, the leaf cross-sections proved the presence of peltate glands and crystalliferous cells in the epidermis and mesophyll, respectively (Fig. 5C). Also, anatomical findings of epidermis in Rumex palustris were compared with two close relatives, R. dentatus and R. maritimus (Figs. 5D–G). The irregular epidermal cells with sinuate walls and both ansiocytic and pericytic stomata were detected in R. dentatus (Fig. 5D), whereas R. maritimus exhibited the polygonal epidermis cells with smooth walls or nearly undulation and only pericytic stomata (Fig. 5E). Moreover, indumentum type of epidermis surface considerably varied among species, ranging from peltate trichomes (with two cells) in R. maritimus to sessile glands and strigose and stellate trichomes (with four cells) in R. dentatus (Figs. 5F–G). Previous anatomical studies revealed that presence of epidermal trichomes, number of layers of cortex and collenchyma, type of collenchyma, number of sclerenchymatous rings, presence and position of laticifer cells, pith presence, crystals type, type of vascular bundles and number of vascular rings in stem, as well as, type of trichomes and stomata, cell shape, undulation details of cell wall and crystals type in leaf epidermis are practical and value characters in determination of Rumex taxa (Yasmin 2009, Yasmin et al. 2010, Soleimani et al. 2014, Keshavarzi et al. 2018, Ulcay 2020, Paul & Chowdhury 2021). In the current study, the above-mentioned characteristics were evaluated between R. palustris and other species of Rumex, focusing on its closest species, R. dentatus and R. maritimu s. Most of observed anatomical characteristics of stem such as the presence of layers of cortex, collenchyma and sclerenchyma, crystals and laticifers as well as pith region in R. palustris are in consistent with anatomical reports of other species of Rumex (Soleimani et al. 2014, Keshavarzi et al. 2018, Mohamed & Azar 2020, Ulcay 2020). However, it can be distinguished from other members of Rumex using number of layers of cortex (5–7), collenchyma (5–10) and sclerenchyma (4–7), collenchyma type (lamellar), type and position of crystals (druses in pith and cortex) and type of vascular bundles (both collateral and bicollateral), showing the taxonomic importance of these characters. According to reported studies (Soleimani et al. 2014, Keshavarzi et al. 2018), R. palustris noteworthy differs from R. dentatus by having 7 cortex layers, 4–6 collenchyma layers, 2–3 sclerenchymatous rings, annular collenchyma and only sand crystals and collateral vascular bundles. In a comparative anatomy of epidermis between Rumex palustris (based on our data) and two its close species (using reported results), it differs from R. maritimus by type of stomata, crystal and peltate trichome (Paul & Chowdhury 2021), and is also separated from R. dentatus based on cell shape and type of wall, crystal and trichome (Yasmin 2009, Yasmin et al. 2010, Keshavarzi et al. 2018, Mohamed & Azar 2020, Paul & Chowdhury 2021). These anatomical differences of epidermis between R. palustris and its affinities were listed in Table 1. Taxonomic notes:— Based on our taxonomical results, Rumex palustris is considerably characterized by its height, size of leaves and petioles, shape of leaf base, articulation type of pedicels, shape and size of valves, number of teeth and tubercles, as well as size and color of achenes (see Table 2). These important diagnostic characters are in line with key taxonomic traits of R. palustris given in different Floras (Boissier 1867, Rechinger 1964, Cullen 1967, Freeman & Reveal 2005). In addition, R. palustris shares some characters such as stem indumentum, shape of basal and cauline leaves, occurrence of articulate pedicels and teeth and tubercles on all valves, as well as bisexual flowers and trigonous nuts with two species, R. dentatus and R. maritimus, but it remarkably differs from them based on the main characteristics listed in Table 2. In the morphological comparison, habit, position of branched stem, size of basal leaves and petioles, shape of leaf base, articulation type of pedicels, number and length of teeth, as well as size and color of nuts are the most distinguishing characters separating R. palustris from R. dentatus. It also differs from R. maritimus in the shape of leaf base, length of basal petioles, color of mature inflorescences, valves size, number of teeth, as well as size of nuts (see Table 2). Most of these characters are also taxonomically important in the whole genus (Boissier 1867, Rechinger 1964, Cullen 1967, Rechinger 1968, Lozinskaya 1970, Mozaffarian 1994, Qaiser 2001, Li et al. 2003, Freeman & Reveal 2005, Yasmin 2009, Uddin et al. 2014, Verloove et al. 2022). Considering various environmental and genetic factors and the related effects on the morphological diversity and high hybridization in the genus Rumex, the identification and delimitation of the taxa still remain unresolved in Iran. Due to this taxonomical complexity and a broad distributional range of Rumex species in Iran, more effort is needed to delimit the interspecific relationships of the genus. Herein, R. palustris as a new record of the genus has an ambiguous taxonomic border because of its high morphological similarities to two closely-related species, R. dentatus and R. maritimus. In addition, it was firstly reported based on specimens misidentified as R. pulcher Linnaeus (1753: 336) and R. maritimus (Freeman & Reveal 2005), confirming its taxonomic complexity. The detailed taxonomical studies, as well as ecological and anatomical examinations are here presented to facilitate delimitation and determination of the new record. Distribution and ecological notes:— The main distribution realm of Rumex palustris stretches from west and southwest of Asia (Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and North Caucasus) to over Europe (Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Greece, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, …) and northwest Africa (Algeria and Morocco), although it was seen in southwestern regions of North America and also southeastern South Africa as an alien (Fig. 3) (Boissier 1867, Rechinger 1964, Cullen 1967, Freeman & Reveal 2005, Euro+Med 2023, EPPO 2023, COL 2023, GBIF 2023, Portal to the Flora of Italy 2022). Considering distribution range of R. palustris in the southwest Asia, western Turkey is the nearest location to our report in the north Iran (Cullen 1967, Euro+Med 2023, EPPO 2023). Based on the above distributional pattern, this new record is not far from its native distribution and we consider this species in Iran as native. Ecologically, R. palustris is a cosmopolitan hygrophytic/wetland species known as ‘Marsh Dock’ and grows in shores, ballast grounds, wet meadows, marshes, wet ruderal and riversides across the Europe and America (Rechinger 1964, Freeman & Reveal 2005). The habitat requirement of the collected samples along the south Caspian shores is similar with general habitat features reported elsewhere. Material examined: — Iran, Mazandaran Province, Ramsar, ca. 2 km W Moallem boulevard (Casino Blvd.) (Fig. 3), on wet coastal dune slacks, 36°55’36.12” N, 50°40’11.69” E, - 26 m, 10 May 2022, Naqinezhad 9115 (HUMZ, TARI)., Published as part of Khorasani, Mina & Naqinezhad, Alireza, 2023, Status of Rumex palustris (Polygonaceae) in the flora of Iran: an overview of current taxonomy, anatomy and ecology, pp. 161-172 in Phytotaxa 587 (2) on pages 162-168, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.587.2.5, http://zenodo.org/record/7731912, {"references":["Smith, J. E. (1800) Flora Britannica, vol. 1. Typis J. Davis, veneunt apud J. White, Edinburgh, 454 pp. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 125864","Gray, S. F. (1821) A natural arrangement of British plants, vol. 2. Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, London, 760 pp. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 43804","Hooker, J. D. (1870) The student's flora of the British Islands. Macmillan and Company, London, 504 pp. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 19896","Thuillier, J. L. (1799) Flore des environs de Paris. A Paris: Chez la Veuve Desaint, Libraire, rue du Foint-Saint-Jacques, 550 pp.","Renault, P. A. (1804) Flore du Departement de l'Orne. Alenc ¸ on, Malassis, 221 pp. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 168094","Celakovsky, L. (1871) Prodromus der Flora von Bohmen. Commissions-verlag von Fr. Rivnac., 290 pp.","Formanek, E. (1886) Beitrag zur Flora des mittleren und sudlichen Mahrens. Selbstverl. des Verf., 115 pp.","Gussone, G. (1826) Plantae rariores. Regia Typographia, Neapoli, 401 pp.","Arcangeli, G. (1882) Compendio della flora italiana; ossia, Manuale per la determinazione delle piante che trovansi selvatiche od inselvatichite nell'Italia e nelle isole adiacenti. E. Loescher, Torino, 889 pp. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 9995","Opiz, F. M. (1852) Seznam rostlin kveteny ceske. Nakladem Ceske museum, Prague, pp. 216.","Saint-Lager, J. B. (1889) Polygonaceae. In: Cariot, A. (Ed.) Etude des fleurs: Botanique descriptive, vol. 2. Libraire et imprimerie Vitte et Perrussel, Lyon, 1003 pp.","Linnaeus, C. (1753) Species plantarum, vol. 1. Impensis Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm, 560 pp.","Bonnier, G. & Layens, G. (1894) Tableaux synoptiques des plantes vasculaires de la Flore de la France. Paris: Paul Dupont, 416 pp.","Rechinger, K. H. Jr. (1964) Rumex L. In: Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A. (Eds.) Flora Europaea, vol. 1. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 99 - 107.","Freeman, C. C. & Reveal, J. L. (2005) Polygonaceae. In: Editorial Committee (Ed.) Flora of North America, vol. 5. University Press, Oxford, pp. 216 - 221.","Aiton, W. T. (1812) Hortus kewensis, or, A catalogue of the plants cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, vol. 2 (4). Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London, 522 pp.","Steudel, E. G. (1855) Synopsis plantarum glumacearum, vol. 1. J. B. Metzler, Stuttgartiae, 485 pp. Tawab, S. A., Wafaa, M., Said, R., Sayed, M. S. & Morsi, F. A. (2017) Morphological and anatomical studies on some dicot plant species collected from East Egypt desert. Journal of Scientific Research in Science 34: 602 - 610.","Yasmin, G. (2009) Taxonomic studies of two major genera Polygonum L. (complex) and Rumex L. of Polygonaceae from Pakistan. PhD diss. Department of Plant Sciences Quaid-Azam University Islamabad, Islamabad, 353 pp.","Yasmin, G., Khan, M. A., Shaheen, N. & Hayat, M. Q. (2010) Micromorphological investigation of foliar anatomy of Fagopyrum Mill. and Rumex L. of Polygonaceae. Pakistan Journal of Botany 42 (1): 47 - 57.","Soleimani, M., Jafari, A., Shahrokhabady, K. N. & Amiri Moghaddam, D. (2014) Comparative anatomical and palynological studies on Rumex L. species (Polygonaceae) in NE Iran. Greener Journal of Biological Science 4 (4): 111 - 115. https: // doi. org / 10.15580 / GJBS. 2014.4.041714190","Keshavarzi, M., Ebrahimi, F. & Mosaferi, S. (2018) Comparative anatomical and micromorphological study of some Rumex species (Polygonaceae). Acta Biologica Szegediensis 62 (1): 45 - 52. https: // doi. org / 10.14232 / abs. 2018.1.45 - 52","Ulcay, S. (2020) Comparative Anatomical Features Study of the Some Medicinal Rumex Species Distributed in Turkey. International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Pure Sciences 32 (4): 450 - 457. https: // doi. org / 10.7240 / jeps. 697779","Paul, P. & Chowdhury, M. (2021) Foliar micromorphology as a tool for identification of Indian taxa of Polygonaceae. Journal of Asia- Pacific Biodiversity 14 (4): 569 - 589. https: // doi. org / 10.1016 / j. japb. 2021.05.008","Cullen, J. (1967) Rumex L. In: Davis, P. H. (Ed.) Flora of. Turkey and the Aegean Islands, vol. 2. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, pp. 281 - 292.","Rechinger, K. H. (1968) Rumex L. In: Rechinger, K. H. (Eds.) Flora Iranica, vol. 56. Akademische Druck and Verlagsanstalt, Graz, pp 2 - 24.","Lozinskaya, A. S. L. (1970) Rumex L. In: Komarov, V. L. (Ed.) Flora of the U. S. S. R, vol. 5. Publisher, Jerusalem, pp. 351 - 379.","Mozaffarian, V. (1994) Studies on the flora of Iran, new species and new records. The Iranian Journal of Botany 6 (2): 235 - 244. https: // doi. org / 10.22092 / IJB. 2015.103309","Qaiser, M. (2001) Polygonaceae. In: Ali, S. I. & Qaisar, M. (Eds.) Flora of Pakistan, vol. 205. Department of Botany, Karachi University and Missouri Botanical Garden, Karachi, pp. 110 - 124.","Li, A. J., Bao, B. J., Grabovskaya-Borodina, A. E. & Mosyakin, S. L. (2003) Rumex. In: Wu, Z. Y. & Raven, P. H. (Eds.) Flora of China, vol. 5. Science Press & Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing, pp. 333 - 341.","Uddin, K., Rahman, A. H. M. M. & Islam, A. K. M. R. (2014) Taxonomy and traditional medicine practices of Polygonaceae (smartweed) family at rajshahi, bangladesh. International Journal of Advanced Research 2 (11): 459 - 469.","Verloove, F., Chambouleyron, M. & Leger, J. F. (2022) Rumex chalepensis (Polygonaceae), a new species for Morocco and Africa. Journal: Mediterranean Botany 43: e 74654. https: // doi. org / 10.5209 / mbot. 74654","POWO (2023) Plants of the World Online. Available from: https // powo. science. kew. org / (accessed: 27 January 2023).","EPPO (2023) European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization. Available from: https: // gd. eppo. int / taxon / RUMPL (accessed: 27 January 2023).","COL (2023) Catalogue of Life. Available from: https: // www. catalogueoflife. org / (accessed: 27 January 2023).","GBIF (2023) Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Available from: https: // www. gbif. org / (accessed: 27 January 2023).","Portal to the Flora of Italy (2022) Version 2022. 1. https: / dryades. units. it / floritaly (accessed: 13 February 2023)."]}

Polygonaceae, a morphologically diverse family, cosmopolite to temperate region. In India, the family has extensive array of distribution from the coastal plains to the subtropical temperate region and almost to the subalpine regions. Polygonaceae has a very restricted flowering and fruiting period, limiting over proper identification using floral characters. This study attempts to identify the members of Indian Polygonaceae based on permanent and stable foliar morphological characters. Most of the taxa displayed microphyllous, unlobed lamina with erose margin, except Rheum nobile (macrophyllous), Polygonum runcinatum (lobed lamina). Parameters like lamina shape, shape and angle of apex and base showed significant macromorphological variations. Three different types of indumentum viz. peltate, capitate spheroidal and stellate glandular and minor venation pattern pulls significant differences. Four major stomatal types were detected viz. anisocytic, anomocytic, paracytic and pericytic, with more than one type in a single taxon. Statistical based infra generic observation identified four distinct principal component analysis (PCA) clusters separating the members of Persicaria, Polygonum, Rumex and Fagopyrum, whereas Fallopia, Rheum, Antigonon, Homalocladium were scatteredly distributed in the matrix scoring plot of PCA. Species distributional matrix of PCA was fully supported by agglomerative hierarchical clustering. The analyzed significant systematic values are quite constant at specific and/or below rank.

Rumex abyssinicus Jacq. — Habit: Herb. Habitat: LMDF. Distribution: II. Voucher: N/A. References: Fries et al. (1924a), Graham (1958)., Published as part of Zhou, Ya-Dong, Mwachala, Geoffrey, Hu, Guang-Wan & Wang, Qing-Feng, 2022, Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Mount Kenya, East Africa, pp. 1-108 in Phytotaxa 546 (1) on page 67, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.546.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/6550464, {"references":["Fries, R. E., Fries, T. C. E. & Christensen, C. (1924 a) Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Flora des Kenia, Mt. Aberdare und Mt. Elgon. V. Notizblatt des Koniglichen Botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin 9 (81): 16 - 36. https: // doi. org / 10.2307 / 3994426","Graham, R. A. (1958) Polygonaceae. In: Turrill, W. B. & Milne-Redhead, E. (Eds.) Flora of Tropical East Africa. Crown Agents, London, 40 pp."]}

Rumex ruwenzoriensis Chiov. — Habit: Herb. Habitat: LMWF, LMDF, BZ, UMF; up to 3 700 m. Distribution: II. Voucher: Chogoria Track, Alt. 2 658 m, 22 Jul. 2014, SAJIT 002030 (HIB). References: Fries et al. (1924a), Graham (1958), Blundell (1987), Bussmann (1993, 1994, 1996), Bussmann & Beck (1995a, 1998), Agnew (2013)., Published as part of Zhou, Ya-Dong, Mwachala, Geoffrey, Hu, Guang-Wan & Wang, Qing-Feng, 2022, Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Mount Kenya, East Africa, pp. 1-108 in Phytotaxa 546 (1) on page 67, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.546.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/6550464, {"references":["Fries, R. E., Fries, T. C. E. & Christensen, C. (1924 a) Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Flora des Kenia, Mt. Aberdare und Mt. Elgon. V. Notizblatt des Koniglichen Botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin 9 (81): 16 - 36. https: // doi. org / 10.2307 / 3994426","Graham, R. A. (1958) Polygonaceae. In: Turrill, W. B. & Milne-Redhead, E. (Eds.) Flora of Tropical East Africa. Crown Agents, London, 40 pp.","Blundell, M. (1987) Collins guide to the wild flowers of East Africa. Collins, London, 464 pp.","Bussmann, R. W. (1993) The forest of Mt. Kenya (Kenya): A phytosociological approach with special reference to ecological problems. Ph. D. Thesis, Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen, Tubingen, 119 pp.","Bussmann, R. W. (1994) The forest of Mt. Kenya (Kenya): Vegetation, ecology, destruction and management of a tropical mountain forest ecosystem. Ph. D. dissertation, Universitat Bayreuth Startseite, Bayreuth, 252 pp.","Bussmann, R. W. (1996) Destruction and management of Mount Kenya's forests. Ambio 25 (5): 314 - 317.","Bussmann, R. W. & Beck, E. (1995 a) The forests of Mt. Kenya (Kenya), a phytosociological synopsis. Phytocoenologia 25 (4): 467 - 560. https: // doi. org / 10.1127 / phyto / 25 / 1995 / 467","Bussmann, R. W. & Beck, E. (1998) The plant communities of the forests of Mount Kenya - First phytosociological and ecological data. In: Ojany, F. F. (Ed.) African mountains and highlands - planning for sustainable use of mountain resources. United Nations University, Tokyo, pp. 96 - 107.","Agnew, A. D. Q. (2013) Upland Kenya wild flowers and ferns, 3 rd edn. Nature Kenya Publications, Nairobi, 733 pp."]}

Rumex nepalensis Spreng. — Habit: Herb. Habitat: LMWF, LMDF; up to 3 700 m. Distribution: II. Voucher: Near Ontulili Forest Station, Alt. 2 178 m, 5 Aug. 2015, SAJIT 003138 (HIB). References: Fries et al. (1924a), Bussmann (1993), Bussmann (1994), Agnew (2013)., Published as part of Zhou, Ya-Dong, Mwachala, Geoffrey, Hu, Guang-Wan & Wang, Qing-Feng, 2022, Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Mount Kenya, East Africa, pp. 1-108 in Phytotaxa 546 (1) on page 67, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.546.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/6550464, {"references":["Fries, R. E., Fries, T. C. E. & Christensen, C. (1924 a) Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Flora des Kenia, Mt. Aberdare und Mt. Elgon. V. Notizblatt des Koniglichen Botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin 9 (81): 16 - 36. https: // doi. org / 10.2307 / 3994426","Bussmann, R. W. (1993) The forest of Mt. Kenya (Kenya): A phytosociological approach with special reference to ecological problems. Ph. D. Thesis, Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen, Tubingen, 119 pp.","Bussmann, R. W. (1994) The forest of Mt. Kenya (Kenya): Vegetation, ecology, destruction and management of a tropical mountain forest ecosystem. Ph. D. dissertation, Universitat Bayreuth Startseite, Bayreuth, 252 pp.","Agnew, A. D. Q. (2013) Upland Kenya wild flowers and ferns, 3 rd edn. Nature Kenya Publications, Nairobi, 733 pp."]}

Rumex usambarensis (Dammer) Dammer — Habit: Herb. Habitat: LMWF, LMDF; up to 2 400 m. Distribution: II. Voucher: Lake Nkunga, Alt. 1 900 m, 8 Aug. 2015, SAJIT 003841 (HIB). References: Fries et al. (1924a), Agnew (2013)., Published as part of Zhou, Ya-Dong, Mwachala, Geoffrey, Hu, Guang-Wan & Wang, Qing-Feng, 2022, Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Mount Kenya, East Africa, pp. 1-108 in Phytotaxa 546 (1) on page 67, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.546.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/6550464, {"references":["Fries, R. E., Fries, T. C. E. & Christensen, C. (1924 a) Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Flora des Kenia, Mt. Aberdare und Mt. Elgon. V. Notizblatt des Koniglichen Botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin 9 (81): 16 - 36. https: // doi. org / 10.2307 / 3994426","Agnew, A. D. Q. (2013) Upland Kenya wild flowers and ferns, 3 rd edn. Nature Kenya Publications, Nairobi, 733 pp."]}

* Rumex acetosella L. — Habit: Herb. Habitat: HZ. Distribution: IV. Voucher: Sirimon Track, Alt. 3 351 m, 8 Jan. 2014, SAJIT 001621 (HIB). Reference: N/A., Published as part of Zhou, Ya-Dong, Mwachala, Geoffrey, Hu, Guang-Wan & Wang, Qing-Feng, 2022, Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Mount Kenya, East Africa, pp. 1-108 in Phytotaxa 546 (1) on page 67, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.546.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/6550464

Interspecific hybridization has been suggested to occur frequently in Rumex (Polygonaceae). Several hypothesized combinations of parental species of hybrids based on their intermediate morphology have been suggested in the genus, but few of them have been phylogenetically tested. We analyzed nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequence data of a putative natural hybrid between Rumex crispus and Rumex obtusifolius from Korea to confirm its hybrid status and to determine the maternal parent. Analysis of the nuclear DNA pgiC region revealed that R. crispus and R. obtusifolius have contributed to the nuclear genome of the putative hybrids. The haplotype distribution pattern inferred from the combined sequence data set of five chloroplast DNA regions (matK, rbcL-accD IGS, trnK-rps16 IGS, ycf6-psbM IGS and psbA-trnH IGS) indicated bidirectional hybridization events between R. crispus and R. obtusifolius. This paper provides the first molecular evidence for interspecific hybridization between R. crispus and R. obtusifolius. In addition, our findings strongly suggested that Korean populations of Rumex japonicus have a hybrid origin, and R. crispus may represent one of the parental taxa.

Rumex is one of about 50 genera in the knotweed family, Polygonaceae. The genus comprises about 200 species with bisexual, or more commonly, unisexual flowers, with the species displaying monoecious, dioecious, synoecious (hermaphroditic) or polygamous reproductive systems. Some of the dioecious species have heteromorphic sex chromosomes, which is rare amongst angiosperms. We here present a plastid phylogeny of 67 species, representing all four subgenera. For this study, we used three chloroplast markers, rbcL, trnH-psbA, trnL-F and dense taxon sampling to reconstruct the most comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Rumex to date. The reconstructed phylogeny for this work resolves six major clades and one large grade in Rumex subg. Rumex. In addition, the species with known dioecious reproductive systems are resolved within a broader clade we term “the dioecious clade”. These results suggest that the species with divergent reproductive systems are more closely related to each other than to other species comprising the rest of the Rumex genus.

Teratoramularia rumicis, a new hyaline anamorphic foliicolous hyphomycetous fungus was discovered on living leaves of medicinally important plant Rumex crispus (Polygonaceae) is described and illustrated. It is an obligate foliar pathogen that causes silvery white foliar disease. It is the first report of Teratoramularia from India. This species is compared with closely related species of Teratoramularia and species of Ramularioid complex along with dematiaceous cercosporoid forms reported on the same host genus and family. The phylogeny of this species has been inferred from combined 28S nrRNA gene (LSU) and internal transcribed spacer regions and intervening 5.8S nrRNA gene (ITS) of the nrDNA operon.