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Key to Oleaceae

Oleaceae

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1 Herbs or suffruticose, < 0.9 dm tall
1 Trees and shrubs, nearly always > 10 dm tall.
  2 Leaves compound.
    3 Leaves pinnately compound with > 5 leaflets; petals absent; fruit a samara; small to large tree; [tribe Oleeae, subtribe Fraxininae]
    3 Leaves trifoliolate; petals 6-10, yellow, conspicuous; fruit a deeply 2-lobed dryish berry; [tribe Jasmineae]
  2 Leaves simple.
(c) Honskus, Michal - CC-BY
      4 Flowers bright yellow, showy; fruit a many-seeded capsule; [tribe Forsythieae]
      4 Flowers white, lilac, or purplish; fruit a drupe or 4-seeded capsule.
        5 Leaves cordate or truncate at the base; fruit a 4-seeded capsule; corolla lobes shorter than the tube; flowers lilac or white, in terminal panicles; [tribe Oleeae, subtribe Ligustrinae]
        5 Leaves cuneate to rounded at the base; fruit a drupe; corolla lobes either shorter or longer than the tube; flowers white or greenish-white, in terminal or lateral panicles or fascicles.
          6 Corolla absent; calyx minute or lacking; flowers in axillary fascicles; [tribe Oleeae, subtribe Oleinae]
          6 Corolla present (often conspicuous and showy); calyx present; flowers in lateral or terminal panicles or in terminal subumbellate clusters.
             7 Corolla lobes 5-12; flowers in terminal subumbellate clusters; [tribe Jasmineae]
               8 Corolla lobes elongate, much longer than the corolla tube; [tribe Oleeae, subtribe Oleinae]
                 9 Inflorescence a many-flowered terminal panicle; leaves generally ovate, elliptic or lanceolate (widest below or at the middle); [tribe Oleeae, subtribe Ligustrinae]
                 9 Inflorescence a few-flowered axillary panicle or fascicle; leaves generally oblanceolate or obovate (widest above the middle); [tribe Oleeae, subtribe Oleinae].
                   10 Leaf margins entire; leaves usually >7 cm long; inflorescence an axillary panicle (with a central axis); [native tree of Coastal Plain forests]
                   10 Leaf margins on at least some leaves coarsely spinose-serrate; leaves < 10 cm long; inflorescence an axillary fascicle (lacking a central axis); [horticulturally planted, rarely naturalizing]
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Key J2: woody angiosperms with opposite, simple leaves with toothed margins {add [Abelia] CAPRIFOLIACEAE}

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1 Leaves evergreen.
  2 Plant a shrub, erect, not requiring support.
    3 Leaves with spiny margins; fruit a drupe; [uncommon horticultural escapes].
      4 Flowers 5-merous, the petals clawed; leaves usually small (ca. 2-3 mm long or less); [FL]
      4 Flowers 4-merous; petals not clawed; leaves larger (the longer leaves usually > 3 mm long); [NC northeastward]
    3 Leaves with crenate or serrate margins (the teeth not bearing small spines); fruits various; [widespread natives and non-natives]
        5 Leaves slightly to strongly fleshy; inflorescence a head; [maritime situations]
 Iva
        5 Leaves not fleshy; inflorescence either a head or otherwise; [collectively widespread].
(c) 渡辺仁, Hitoshi WATANABE - CC-BY
(c) Danielson, Erik
          6 Leaves > 8 cm long, typically spotted with yellow, coarsely toothed; fruit a red drupe; [commonly cultivated, rarely seeding down nearby]
          6 Leaves < 8 cm long, not yellow-spotted, serrulate; fruit a capsule or purplish drupe; [plants native or cultivated].
             7 Inflorescence otherwise; [more widespread].
               8 Corolla tubular, campanulate, bilaterally symmetrical; fruit a 1-seeded achene (rarely produced)
               8 Corolla radially symmetrical, with 4-5 distinct petals; fruit a 2-10-seeded capsule or drupe.
(c) Cressler, Alan M.
                 9 Fruit a 4-5-locular capsule, with 2 seeds per locule (though often fewer by abortion)
                 9 Fruit a (2-) 3-locular, purplish-black drupe, with (2-) 3 single-seeded stones
  2 Plant a subshrub, creeping shrub, or liana.
                   10 Leaves serrate (not spinose), serrulate, or crenate; [exotics and natives, collectively widespread].
                     11 Leaves slightly to strongly fleshy; inflorescence a head; [maritime situations]
 Iva
                     11 Leaves not fleshy; inflorescence otherwise; [collectively widespread].
                       12 Leaves on vigorous shoots with a few coarse rounded teeth towards the base (most leaves entire)
                       12 Leaves serrulate to serrate, the teeth uniformly around the margin or concentrated towards the tip; fruit dry, either indehiscent and 1-seeded or capsular and with several seeds.
                          13 Flowers 5-merous; petals fused; fruit indehiscent, 1-seeded; [montane, from e. TN, WV, and w. MD northwards in our area]
                          13 Flowers 4- or 5-merous; petals separate; fruit capsular, dehiscent, several-seeded; [collectively widespread in our area]
1 Leaves deciduous.
                            14 Leaves slightly to strongly fleshy; inflorescence a head, subtended by an involucre of phyllaries; [maritime situations]
 Iva
                            14 Leaves not fleshy; inflorescence, flower, and fruit structure various, but not with the combination of features as above (sometimes the flowers in a head subtended by bracts, but then with other features differing, such as stamens 4, or green calyx present, or petals separate, or fruit a schizocarp of mericarps, etc.); [collectively widespread].
                                16 Stems not prickly; foliage smooth to variously hairy, but not scabrous.
                                  17 Leaves on vigorous shoots with a few coarse rounded teeth towards the base (most leaves entire), the larger leaves < 3 cm wide; lianas climbing by twining; fruit a fleshy berry; flowers 5-merous, with a fused, tubular corolla
                                  17 Leaves serrate, the teeth towards the leaf apex, the larger leaves > 4 cm wide; lianas climbing by adventitious roots; fruit a capsule; flowers 7-10-merous, with separate petals
                              15 Upright shrubs or trees, lacking any adaptations for climbing.
                                       19 Leaves not scabrous; fruit a 2-4-seeded drupe; leaf venation neatly pinnate, the lateral veins nearly straight and parallel to one another
                                    18 Shrubs or trees; leaves strictly opposite (or often subopposite in RHAMNACEAE).
                                         20 Trees; leaves palmately-veined, with 5 or more veins from the base; [rarely naturalizing]
                                         20 Shrubs; leaves either triple-veined from near the base or pinnate-veined; [collectively widespread and common]
                                           21 Leaves strongly triple-veined from at or near the base of the blade, the 2 lateral veins arching towards the tip and rejoining the midvein or nearly so (becoming diffuse before rejoining); petals 4, white; stamens 15-90
                                           21 Leaves pinnate-veined; petals various, not both 4 and white (except sometimes in Hydrangea); stamens 1-15 (except 15-30 in Exochorda in ROSACEAE).
                                             22 Inflorescence more diffuse, with internal axes and pedicels; flowers not BOTH sympetalous and 4-lobed (except in Forsythia and Buddleja, which have conspicuous axillary or paniculate inflorescences); fruit 1-seeded, 2-4-seeded, or 4-many-seeded.
                                                        27 Flowers 1 and terminal, or many, in terminal panicles or corymbs; stamens 8-10 (-60); stems brown, tan or gray.
                                                                                      41 Fruit a 1-seeded drupe; [NC southwards and westwards]
                                                                                        42 Inflorescence various, but more diffuse, the flowers larger (> 5 mm in diameter, except for some flowers in Hydrangea in HYDRANGEACEAE) and loosely arranged (< 5 per cm of axis).