1 Leaves opposite (to subopposite).

  2 Branches armed, secondary branches (short shoots) thorn-tipped; Leaf margins serrulate, serrate, or crenate; leaf apex acuminate or acute; drupe with 2-4 stones; petals 4 or 5, white, cream, or yellow; [collectively widespread in our region].

    3 Leaves (2-) 4-10 (-13) cm long; inflorescence a fascicle or flower solitary; sepals 4; petals 4; flowers functionally unisexual (the stamens rudimentary in the pistillate flowers); [exotics, mainly inland and/or northwards in our area]

    3 Leaves 1.5-4 (-6) cm long; inflorescences a panicle-like thyrse; sepals 5; petals 5; flowers bisexual; [native, of the Coastal Plain]

  2 Branches unarmed; leaf margins entire; leaf apex either slightly to deeply notched or acute to acuminate; drupe with 1 stone; petals 5 or absent; [FL peninsula or TX].

      4 Leaf blades gland-dotted on the undersurface; petals 5; [TX]

      4 Leaf blades not gland-dotted; petals 0; [FL peninsula].

        5 Drupes 5-8 (-12) mm long; secondary veins borne mostly at a 50-75° angle to the midvein, and arching as they approach the margin; sepals crested on the upper surface

        5 Drupes 10-20 mm long; secondary veins borne mostly at a 70-90° angle to the midvein, and remaining straight before splitting Y-fashion as they approach the margin; sepals with a slight keel on the upper surface

1 Leaves alternate.

          6 Plant a woody vine.

             7 Leaf margins entire; leaf apex obtuse (to short-acuminate); tendrils absent (plant climbing by twining); [widespread in our area]

             7 Leaf margins serrate to crenate; leaf apex acute-acuminate; tendrils present; [of ne. FL southward]

          6 Plant a shrub (sometimes clambering) or small tree.

               8 Leaves with 3 (-5) prominent veins from near the base (and 1-3 additional pairs of veins along the midvein); leaf margins toothed (serrate or crenate).

                 9 Leaves 0.2-10 cm long; inflorescence a fascicle, cyme, thyrse, umbel-like, or panicle-like; peduncles neither fleshy nor red; nectariferous disc glabrous.

                   10 Plants armed with stipular spines; fruit either fleshy (a drupe with 1 stone), or dry (a 1-seeded samara).

                     11 Fruit dry (a 1-seeded samara)

                     11 Fruit fleshy (a drupe with 1 stone)

                   10 Plants not spiny; fruit dry, a 3-locular capsular with many seeds; [tribal placement uncertain].

                       12 Erect shrubs to 1.5 m tall; inflorescence panicle-like or umbel-like, with many flowers (> 20)

                       12 Clambering shrub to 8 m tall; inflorescence 1 2-7-flowered thyrse or the flower solitary

               8 Leaves either with prominently pinnate venation (the lowermost lateral veins no more prominent than others) or with no prominent lateral veins; leaf margins either entire or toothed (serrate or crenate).

                          13 Fruits dry, a 3-locular capsule with many seeds; ovary ½-inferior; branches unarmed

                          13 Fruits fleshy, a drupe with 1-4 stones; ovary superior; branches either unarmed, or armed with thorn-tipped secondary short shoots and sometimes also with stipular spines.

                            14 Drupe with 1 stone; leaves 0.5-3 cm long, entire, 1-veined, the apex notched; branches armed with thorn-tipped secondary short shoots and sometimes also with stipular spines; [TX, peninsular FL]

                              15 Leaves pinnately veined; drupes 3-6 mm in diameter; style 1; petals 0; [TX]

                              15 Leaves with no venation apparent other than the midvein; drupes 5-10 mm in diameter; leaves with no venation apparent other than the midvein; style 2-4; petals 5; [TX or peninsular FL]

                                16 Drupe yellow or orange (drying brownish); inflorescence a fascicle; petals white

                                16 Drupe blue to purple, 5-10 mm long; inflorescence a thyrse on a short (1-2 mm) peduncle; petals yellow

                            14 Drupe with 2-4 stones; leaves (2-) 4-13 cm long, toothed (serrate or crenate), with prominently pinnate venation, the apex acuminate, acute, or obtuse; branches unarmed; [collectively widespread].

                                  17 Winter buds naked, pubescent; flowers perfect, sepals, stamens, and petals 5; style undivided; leaves with 8-10 lateral veins on either side of the midvein

                                  17 Winter buds with bud scales; flowers functionally unisexual, sepals and stamens 4 or 5 (the stamens rudimentary in the pistillate flowers), petals 0 or 4 (never 5); style divided for 1/3 to 2/3 its length into 2, 4 or 5 segments; leaves with (2-) 3-9 lateral veins on either side of the midvein

1 Leaves evergreen.

  2 Petiole flanged or winged, constricted at the base of the blade; fruit a hesperidium

  2 Petiole linear (not flanged or winged with leafy tissue); fruit various. {add to 2b: [Sapium] EUPHORBIACEAE, [Photinia] ROSACEAE, [Prunus (caroliniana)] ROSACEAE, [Ilex (cassine, myrtifolia)] AQUIFOLIACEAE}

    3 Leaves 7-20 cm long, usually at least some on a branch > 12 cm long, thick in texture but readily flexible when fresh.

      4 Inflorescence of a solitary flower, axillary, 5-7 cm across; fruit a capsule, ca. 1 cm in diameter

      4 Incflorescence a corymb of many, smaller flowers; fruit a pome, 0.4-0.8 (-1.2) cm in diameter

    3 Leaves 3-12 cm long, thick in texture and also noticeably stiff.

        5 Leaf with a spinose margin, the marginal spines well-developed, generally arrayed along most of the leaf margin and borne at nearly a right angle to the midvein

        5 Leaf margins serrate with one or a few stiff teeth (sometimes sharpish, but not spines), these usually towards the apex of the leaf and oriented towards the leaf apex

1 Leaves deciduous.

          6 Secondary veins neatly pinnate, the veins on each side of the midrib evenly spaced, parallel to one another, and extending nearly or actually to the leaf margin; fruit either a 1-seeded nut (dry, with or without samaroid wings, bracts, a subtending cupule, or an enclosing and valvate involucre) or a fleshy drupe with 2-4 stones.

             7 Leaves doubly-serrate, the number of teeth greater than the number of the pinnate secondary veins (sometimes obscurely so in Planera in ULMACEAE); fruit a nut or samaroid nut, lacking a cupule or valvate involucre, though sometimes associated with green, leaf-like bracts.

               8 Flowers unisexual, in catkins, the tree monoecious; leaf base symmetrical

               8 Flowers bisexual, in axillary fascicles, the tree androgynous; leaf base strongly asymmetrical (oblique) or nearly or quite symmetrical.

             7 Leaves singly serrate or crenate, the teeth the same number as the secondary veins; fruit either a fleshy drupe with 2-4 stones, or a nut with a cupule (acorn) or enclosed by a valvate involucre that splits at maturity.

                 9 Fruit a fleshy drupe with 2-4 stones

                 9 Fruit dry, single-seeded (or with 1-4 nuts in Castanea).

                   10 Fruit > 9 mm long or wide, either a nut with a cupule (acorn) or 1-4 nuts enclosed by a valvate involucre that splits at maturity

                   10 Fruit < 9 mm long and wide, leathery, indehiscent, winged or not

          6 Secondary veins not as above, usually arching and/or branching or reticulating well before reaching the leaf margin; fruit various.

                     11 Leaves strongly 3-5-veined from the base; leaf blade cordate or truncate, often oblique.

                       12 Inflorescence axillary, a solitary flower, a fascicle or cluster, or a cyme; peduncles and pedicels remaining stalk-like; [collectively widespread and common].

                          13 Flowers unisexual, plants monoecious; pith of mature twigs chambered with hollow sections between soft partitions

                          13 Flowers bisexual; plants hermaphroditic; pith of mature twigs continuous without hollow sections between partitions.

                            14 Flowers bisexual; inflorescence an axillary cyme; fresh leaves and stems lacking white latex; fruit simple, a 1-seeded nut; main leaf veins splitting several times towards the leaf margin and leading into the teeth without rejoining and forming a marginal vein; basal veins 5, palmate, all joining together at the summit of the petiole; main lateral leaf veins (above the basal veins) often opposite; winter buds with 3 entire bud scales (1 much smaller than the other 2)

                            14 Flowers unisexual, the pistillate inflorescence a head, the staminate inflorescence a catkin, borne on the same tree (monoecious) or on separate trees (dioecious); fresh leaves and stems with white latex; fruit a multiple of fleshy achenes; main leaf veins splitting towards the margin but then rejoining to form a prominent, looping (scalloped) marginal vein; basal veins 3, palmate, sometimes an additional prominent vein on each side joining the lateral vein above its divergence from the petiole end; main lateral leaf veins (above the basal veins) mainly alternate; winter buds with 5 ciliate-margined bud scales

                     11 Leaves pinnately veined; leaf blade base cordate, subcordate, truncate, rounded, or cuneate base, not oblique.

                              15 Inflorescence a terminal raceme of racemes, with more than 50 flowers; petals connate, urceolate; fruit a 5-valved capsule, < 6 mm in diameter; fresh leaves with a sour taste

                              15 Inflorescence various, either with < 30 flowers or if with > 50 flowers a catkin (with a single axis); corolla with separate petals (or petals absent); fruit various, fleshy or dry, if a 5-valved capsule (Franklinia in THEACEAE), then 15-20 mm in diameter; fresh leaves without a sour taste.

                                16 Pubescence stellate (look especially in vein axils on the undersurface of the leaf)

                                16 Pubescence simple (or absent).

                                  17 Flowers very large and showy, 7-9 cm across; fruit a subglobose capsule 1.5-2 cm in diameter

                                  17 Flowers less than 2 cm across; fruit either fleshy and indehiscent, a drupe, samara, or pome, or dry and dehiscent, an ovoid or lanceolate capsule < 0.7 cm in diameter.

                                    18 Flowers unisexual, borne either in axillary catkins; trees dioecious; fruit either dehiscent, a lanceoloid or ovoid capsule (SALICACEAE) or indehiscent, a samara (Eucommia ulmoides).

                                       19 Plants bearing latex; fruit a samara, 25-32 mm long, the apex emarginate

                                       19 Plants not bearing latex; fruit a lanceoloid or ovoid capsule

                                    18 flowers bisexual (unisexual in Ilex in AQUIFOLIACEAE), borne variously in terminal or axillary clusters, cymes, racemes, or umbels, but not at all catkin-like; trees hermaphroditic (dioecious in AQUIFOLIACEAE); fruit indehiscent, a fleshy drupe or pome with 1-many seeds.

                                         20 Pith of twigs with transverse diaphragms and also continuous between the diaphragms (make a longitudinal section of twig and use at least 10× magnification; look for translucent diaphragms spaced at < 1 mm apart, with whiter pith tissue between them); fruit distinctly longer than broad, a 1-seeded drupe

                                         20 Pith of twigs lacking diaphragms, continuous and homogeneous; fruit either suborbicular to spherical or pear-shaped, either a several- to many-seeded pome, or a berry-like drupe with 4-8 seeds, or a 1-seeded drupe.

                                           21 Vascular bundle scars 1 in each leaf scar; fruit a berrylike drupe with 4-8 bony pyrenes; ovary superior, the calyx persistent at the base of the fruit

                                           21 Vascular bundle scars (2-) 3 in each leaf scar; fruit a pome or 1-seeded drupe; ovary either inferior and the calyx persistent at the summit of the fruit (Amelanchier, Crataegus, Malus, Pyrus) or superior and the calyx not at all persistent at the base of the fruit (Prunus)