Rumex hymenosepalus

Canaigre, wild-rhubarb, Wild-Rhubarb

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Canaigre is a California native perennial found in the San Joaquin Valley, southwestern California, and Mojave Desert regions in sandy, rocky places, plains, slopes, and streambeds at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from January to May, this plant produces small greenish to reddish flowers in dense terminal clusters. Growing with stout, fleshy stems 25 to 90 centimeters tall and short rhizomes with tuber-like roots, it develops a robust and distinctive growth form. Its large fleshy leaves measure 5 to 30 centimeters long and 2 to 8 centimeters wide, with lanceolate to oblong blades that have entire margins and acute to acuminate tips. The fruit is brown to red-brown, measuring 4 to 5 millimeters long.

Habitat: Sandy, rocky places, plains, slopes, streambeds, alkaline soils

Bloom period: Jan-May

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: SnJV, SW, DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside, Orange, Kern, Madera, San Diego, Fresno, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Lassen, Merced, Yolo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.