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Key to Cerastium

Caryophyllaceae

Cerastium

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1 Petals 10-18 mm long, 2-3× as long as the sepals; leaves 2-7 cm long; plants perennial, typically with some shoots not flowering.
  2 Leaf blades narrowly lanceolate to narrowly ovate, obtuse to acute at tip, more-or-less rounded at base; stems spreading or decumbent basally, ascending-erect distally.
    3 Leaf blades narrowly lanceolate, obtuse to acute, well-spaced on stem, moderately to densely pubescent with dull hairs but may be glabrate in age; plants forming small clumps
    3 Leaf blades narrowly ovate, obtuse and blunt at tip, tightly spaced on stem, very densely pubescent with silvery or translucent-white permanent hairs; plants form clumps to several dm wide; [endemic to serpentine in PA and MD]
  2 Leaf blades narrowly to broadly linear, acute or short-acuminate at tip, tapered to base; stems erect nearly whole length
      4 Nodes of the lower and middle stem lacking axillary leaf tufts; stems and leaf blades densely white-tomentose, obscuring the surfaces
      4 Nodes of the lower and middle stem with axillary tufts of leaves; stems and leaf blades villous, but thinly so and allowing the surface to be seen.
        5 Plants strongly rhizomatous with long-creeping shoots, lacking taproot; flowering stems usually 25-30 cm long; stem pubescence eglandular (glandular hairs present in the inflorescence only); sepals 5-7 mm long; anthers 1.0-1.1 mm long; petals often turning brown when dry; [exotic]
        5 Plants clumped, with taproots or shortly rhizomatous; flowering stems usually 5-20 cm long; stem pubescence glandular; sepals 3.5-6 (-7) mm long; anthers 0.8-0.9 mm long; petals usually remaining white when dried; [native]
1 Petals 3-8 mm long, shorter than, equaling, or up to 1.5× as long as the sepals; leaves 0.5-3.0 cm long (to 8 cm long in C. nutans and C. brachypodum); plants annual, with all shoots producing flowers (except C. fontanum ssp. vulgare).
          6 Perennial, matted at the base and rooting at the nodes.
             7 Sepals 2.5-3 mm long; petals 2.5-3.5 mm long; capsules broadly ovoid, 4-5 mm long
          6 Annual, taprooted.
               8 Sepals with long, appressed, eglandular hairs extending beyond the tip of the sepal.
                     11 Styles, sepals, and petals 4 (-5); capsule teeth 8 (-10); capsules ca. 1.5 × as long as the sepals; cauline leaves 2-3 × as long as wide
                     11 Styles, sepals, and petals 3 (-4); capsule teeth 6 (-8); capsules ca. 2 × as long as the sepals; cauline leaves 8-10 × as long as wide
(c) Finzel, Brian - CC-BY-SA
                       12 Bracts of the inflorescence with distinctly scarious margins; leaves mostly 0.5-1.0- (-1.5) cm long.
(c) Finzel, Brian - CC-BY-SA
                          13 Petals equaling or surpassing the sepals; cleft in petal apex 1.0-1.5 mm deep
                       12 Bracts of the inflorescence with green margins; leaves mostly (1.0-) 1.5-8 cm long.
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Key to Caryophyllaceae, Key B: Subkey in Caryophyllaceae

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(c) Bradley, Keith
1 Petals absent; fruit a 1-seeded, indehiscent utricle; styles 2; [tribe Sclerantheae]
1 Petals present (rarely obsolete or essentially absent); fruit a few-many seeded capsule; styles 3-5.
  2 Leaves fleshy; seeds > 3 mm long; [of seabeaches and dunes] ; [tribe Sclerantheae]
  2 Leaves membranaceous or stiff; seeds < 2 mm long; [of various habitats].
      4 Petal apex 2-cleft; leaves ovate to obovate, > 4 mm wide (except Dichodon viscidum which has linear leaves 1-4 mm wide).
        5 Pedicels glandular or not; capsules dehiscing via 6-10 teeth
          6 Capsules with 10 apical teeth; cauline leaves ovate, obovate, > 4 mm wide
        5 Pedicels minutely glandular-pilose; capsules dehiscing via 5 slightly recurved, shallowly 2-cleft valves
      4 Petal apex variously acute to obtuse but not 2-cleft; leaves linear-subulate, < 2mm wide.
             7 Leaf bases not forming a scarious cup; valves or teeth of the capsule twice as many as the styles; [tribe Alsineae]
             7 Leaf bases usually forming a conspicuous scarious cup; valves or teeth of the capsule as many as the styles; [tribe Sagineae]
(c) Fleming, Gary P.
                 9 Petals shallowly to deeply 2-cleft, notched at least 1/4 of the length, often divided nearly to the base and then appearing almost as 10 petals; [tribe Alsineae].
                     11 Capsules with 6 teeth (occasionally 8); cauline leaves linear to linear-lanceolate
(c) Hill, Sonnia
                   10 Capsule spherical, ellipsoid, or globose, as long as or slightly longer than the sepals; petals 2-cleft 2/3-3/4 length (1/2 length in Rabelera, if so then stems also square); styles (2-) 3 (-5), 0.2-7 mm long.
                       12 Stems round or roundish; petals 2-cleft 2/3 to 3/4 of length
(c) Loarie, Don - CC-BY
(c) Ware, Richard & Teresa - CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG
                 9 Petals entire, or emarginate.
                            14 Leaves strongly basally disposed, most in the lowermost 1/3 of the stem, and overlapping (the internodes < the leaf length; leaves firm, with axillary fascicles of leaves; [tribe Sagineae]
                            14 Leaves evenly distributed along the stem and widely spaced (the internodes > the leaf length); leaves herbaceous to slightly fleshy, generally without axillary fascicles of leaves.
(c) Gwaltney, John
                                  17 Capsule straight; petals entire or barely emarginated; [tribe Arenarieae]
(c) Ware, Richard & Teresa - CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG
                                  17 Capsule cylindrical, and often somewhat curved; petals emarginate to bifid; [tribe Alsineae]