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Key G4: shrubs and subshrubs with alternate, simple, unlobed, entire leaves

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1 Leaves evergreen. {add to 1a: Ternstroemia in PENTAPHYLACACEAE, Pyracantha in ROSACEAE, Thymelaea in THYMELAEACEAE; Chrysophyllum in SAPOTACEAE; Glycosmis parviflora in RUTACEAE}.
  2 Leaves 1-7 mm long, either acicular and spreading or ovate and appressed to the stems
  2 Leaves > 10 mm long.
    3 Leaves linear, > 15× as long as wide, usually sharply pointed at the apices (Ilex can have pointed apices, but leaves are not linear and marginal teeth often also present); [Monocots]
    3 Leaves broader, < 15× as long as wide, leaf apices variously shaped, if pointed usually not conspicuously sharpened; [Eudicots, Basal Angiosperms, or Monocots].
      4 Plant a creeping subshrub, < 1 dm tall
      4 Plant not creeping, > 3 dm tall (mature plants).
        5 Inflorescence an involucrate head or a raceme or a panicle consisting of spherical heads (Conocarpus in COMBRETACEAE).
          6 Inflorescence an involucrate head, the heads consisting of a receptacle bearing few-many cypselae; plants of various habitats, but not forming dense stands of shrubs in coastal habitats
          6 Inflorescence a raceme or panicle consisting of spherical heads, the fruit densely clustered in conelike heads but not cypselae; leaf abaxial surfaces with conspicuous pit domatia at the junction of midvein and secondary veins; plants salt-adapted shrubs of coastal habitats
        5 Inflorescence not an involucrate head, instead either solitary (Illicium in ILLICIACEAE) or variously branched, spicate, racemose, umbellate, or fascicled.
             7 Flowers with a 5-lobed, fan-shaped corolla opposing a conspicuously protruding and incurved style
             7 Flowers various, but not as above.
               8 Leaves alternate, but usually clustered densely towards branch tips; leaves narrowly oblanceolate, 1-4 cm long; flowers yellow, 5-merous, the petals diminuitive (ca. 4 mm) and clawed basally (the petals often falling off by midday); [of coastal beaches, dunes, and hammocks; FL peninsula]
               8 Plants not with the above combination of traits: leaves longer and variously shaped (if narrowly oblanceolate, leaves much longer than 40 cm long) usually well-spaced throughout the stems (if clustered, then other characters lacking); [plants widely distributed in a variety of habitats].
                 9 Carpels separate; fruit an aggregate; fresh foliage strongly fragrant; [Basal Angiosperms].
                   10 Fruit an aggregate of woody follicles arranged in a whorl
                   10 Fruit an aggregate of red to blackish berries, 4-6 mm long, each on a long stipe, giving the aggregate almost the appearance of an umbel
                 9 Carpels fused; fruit a berry, drupe, acorn (nut), capsule, or legume; fresh foliage not strongly fragrant; [Eudicots, Monocots, and Basal Angiosperms].
                     11 Ovary with 3 carpels; fruit a berry; “leaves” actually cladodes; [Monocots]
                     11 Ovary with 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 carpels; fruit a berry, drupe, capsule, legume, or nut; leaves actually leaves; [Eudicots and Basal Angiosperms].
                       12 Leaves largely covered with silver and/or bronze lepidote scales and/or dense stellate hairs below (visible at 10× or higher magnification), giving the lower leaf surface a slightly shiny to almost metallic appearance. {add Lyonia ferruginea and L. fruticosa in ERICACEAE; add Loropetalum in HAMAMELIDACEAE}
                          13 Petals present, conspicuous, connate, white, the corolla rotate; fruit a berry with several seeds; fresh foliage with a strong, tar-like odor
                          13 Petals absent or inconspicuous, greenish and separate if present (note that the calyx is petaloid and white or yellowish in Elaeagnus of ELAEAGNACEAE); fruit a dry capsule with 3 seeds, or a drupe with a single seed; fresh foliage lacking a strong odor.
                            14 Perianth 4-merous; petals absent; petaloid sepals white to cream, fused and salverform; carpel 1; fruit a fleshy, red drupe, with a single seed
                            14 Perianth 5-merous; petals green and separate, or absent; sepals greenish, separate; carpels 3; fruit a 3-valved capsule with 3 seeds
                       12 Leaves with various vestiture (or glabrous), but not as above.
                              15 Flowers arranged in axillary spikes, umbels of shortened spikes, or sometimes the flowers solitary and leaf-opposing; fruit a drupe or drupe-like.
                                16 Flowers in spikes, axillary umbels (of shortened spikes), or the flowers solitary and leaf-opposing; leaves spaced, the bases oblique; stipules apparent, and clasping the stem; fruit rarely 3-angled (P. auritum), but not ridged; plants unarmed, the stems swollen at the nodes; branches somewhat zig-zagged, not arranged in conspicuous tiers
                                16 Flowers arranged in axillary spikes only; the fruit usually somewhat ridged; leaves clustered at branch tips (except T. arjuna), the bases typically cuneate; stipules reduced to glandular hairs at petiole base; plants armed or unarmed, the stem nodes not conspicuously swollen; branches arranged in tiers, the main branches erect, the lateral spreading horizontally
                              15 Flowers in other types of inflorescences, not spikes, if the inflorescence axillary only, then consisting of panicles or racemes (Cestrum) or subsessile to sessile fascicles (Myrsine and SAPOTACEAE); fruit various (acorns, berries, drupes, capsules, legumes).
                                  17 Leaves 1-foliolate on the upper stems, sometimes 3-foliolate below, or all reduced to phyllodial spines; flowers papilionaceous, bright yellow; fruit a legume; stems bright green
                                  17 Leaves simple throughout; flowers variously shaped but not papilionaceous; fruit not a legume, instead acorns, berries, capsules, or drupes.
                                    18 Flowers apetalous; arranged in catkins (Quercus in FAGACEAE; Morella inodora in MYRICACEAE) OR thyrses (Dodonaea in SAPINDACEAE).
                                       19 Flowers tannish, borne in catkins (these drooping at maturity); fruit a nut in a cupule (acorn)
                                       19 Flowers greenish-red or yellowish-green, borne in thyrses or if in catkins (Morella), these erect and globose in shape; fruit a winged, bladder-like capsule (Dodonaea) or globose, drupe-like, and covered in small, warty protuberances (Morella).
                                         20 Fruit a bladder-like, winged capsule (usually weakly 3-locular), brownish-red or brown when ripened; [peninsular FL from St. Johns County southward]
                                         20 Fruit globose, drupe-like, and covered in small, warty protuberances, blueish purple to black when ripened; [Gulf Coastal Plain from FL Panhandle and sc. GA, w. to e. LA]
                                    18 Flowers not apetalous, with a well-developed corolla, variously colored (white, cream, pink, greenish or reddish-orange), either urceolate OR tubular and with separate and spreading petals (rarely the perianth only consisting of green sepals), arranged in various terminal or axillary inflorescences, or sometimes solitary; fruit either a (3-) 5-valved capsule, or a spherical berry with (1-) 10+ seeds, OR a 1-8 seeded dry or fleshy drupe.
                                           21 Flowers white to pink or reddish-orange, rotate, tubular, or urceolate (the petals also sometimes spreading apically, but united at least basally), in various terminal or axillary inflorescences or solitary; fruit either a 2-5 valved capsule (conspicuously linear-cylindric in CAPPARACEAE), a spherical berry with 10+ seeds OR a drupe bearing 4 bony nutlets (Bourreria).
                                             22 Flowers reddish-orange; corollas bearing post-staminal hairs (appearing as tufts of hair opposite each anther)
                                             22 Flowers white, greenish-white, yellow, or pink; corollas without obvious tufts of hair opposite each anther.
                                               23 Fruit a fleshy berry; inflorescences of axillary fascicles (SAPOTACEAE), axillary and paniculate (Cestrum) or in Solanum, leaf-opposed and variously arranged (terminal, axillary, and extra-axillary).
                                                 24 Plants with milky sap (exuded from petioles when removed from stems); sepals rusty-tomentose; [c. and s. FL only in our area]; {Add Lucuma and Mimusops}.
                                                    25 Fruit a smaller, glabrous berry (< 1 cm in diameter), green, purple, or black, glabrous, not roughened; petioles not with a decurrent adaxial wing forming a groove
                                                    25 Fruit a large, globose berry (2-8 cm in diameter), pale brown in color when mature, the surface roughened in texture; petioles with a decurrent, adaxial wing forming a groove
                                                      26 Leaves 1 per node; inflorescences axillary and paniculate (sometimes with terminal flower clusters present), never leaf opposed (although often bracteate); flowers tubular, the end of the tube often surrounding the anthers
                                                      26 Leaves 1 per node or also paired (on one side of the stem) at some nodes (the leaves then uneven in size); inflorescences leaf-opposed; flowers campanulate, lacking a tubular corolla
                                               23 Fruit not a fleshy berry, instead a valved capsule or a drupe bearing 4 bony nutlets (Bourreria); inflorescences terminal or axillary (or occasionally flowers solitary), never leaf-opposed.
                                                        27 Capsules pendulous and conspicuously elongate-cylindric, borne on a slender gynophore (a specialized stipe bearing the gynoecium); seeds white, grey, tan, or brownish in color and usually contrasting with the bright red interior of the capsules; plants shrubs or sometimes loosely scrambling over other plants; stamens usually much longer than the petals and conspicuously exerted from the flowers
                                                        27 Capsules (or drupes) erect, not linear nor long-cylindric, not borne on a gynophore; seeds variously colored, and sometimes surrounded by a fleshy aril (but the entire capsule interior not bright red); plants shrubs; stamens shorter than or only minimally longer than the corolla (not long exerted)
                                                          28 Seeds with fleshy aril or attachment (or if not fleshy, the seeds nutlets with abaxial ridges, as in Bourreria); ovaries 2-4 carpellate; flowers rotate; leaves entire or very remotely serrulate.
                                                            29 Fruit a drupe, the drupe bearing 4 bony nutlets with abaxial ridges; flowers rotate and salverform (the corolla tube evident), arranged in terminal cymes, the corolla lobes usually orbicular; leaves scabrous or hispid (except B. succulenta)
                                                            29 Fruit a capsule (the seeds with fleshy arils or attachments); flowers rotate, but not salverform (the corolla tube not lengthened), arranged solitary, few, or in cymes, terminal or axillary, the corolla lobes usually deltoid or somewhat triangular in shape; leaves glabrous or sometimes puberulent (Pittosporum), but the pubescence not rough.
                                                              30 Flowers few, not showy, green to greenish-white, inflorescence not densely arranged (flowers also sometimes solitary); capsules not beaked; leaves not revolute or undulate
                                           21 Flowers white, rotate, the petals spreading, distinct (i.e., separate to the base; nearly so in Myrsine), not tubular; arranged in axillary fascicles or racemes or in subsessile to sessile axillary fascicles (Myrsine); fruit either a fleshy drupe with 4-8 pyrenes, or a dry to leathery single-seeded drupe.
                                                                 31 Plants never producing pneumatophores; leaf blades variously pubescent or glandular, but lacking conspcuous marginal or apical pit-domatia; [collectively widespread natives]
                                                                       34 Inflorescence of sessile or subsessile fascicles, the flowers 5-merous, greenish-white (often with pink streaks or dots) and with obvious staminodes; fruit a 1-seeded fleshy to leathery drupe
                                                                       34 Inflorescence of subsessile or short-pedicellate fascicles, the flowers 4-merous, white (lacking pink streaks or dots); fruit a fleshy drupe with 4-8 pyrenes
1 Leaves deciduous.
image of plant
Show caption*© Alan Cressler: Leitneria floridana (male catkin), St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, St. Marks Unit, Wakulla County, Florida 1 by Alan Cressler
                                                                           36 Inflorescence a catkin; flowers unisexual; plants dioecious
image of plant
Show caption*© Michelle Wong, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Michelle W.
                                                                                  39 Fruit a globose, spinose capsule bearing a longitudinal ridge across 1 or both faces, thus essentially resembling a spikey ball; perianth (4-)5-merous, consisting of 3 upper connate petaloid claws and two lower sessile petals; fresh plants without a strange musky odor; [Eudicots]
                                                                                      41 Leaves elliptic or narrowly elliptic, broadest near the middle; fresh plants strongly fragrant with a citrus-like aroma; stems unarmed; fruit a drupe, with a single seed
                                                                                        42 Fruit either a drupe or berry (indehiscent, and variously fleshy or dry) or a dry 3-valved capsule with 1 seed; inflorescence axillary (solitary, clusters, fascicles, or racemes), or in a terminal raceme (Pyrularia in SANTALACEAE).

Key G5: shrubs and subshrubs with alternate, simple, unlobed, toothed leaves

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1 Subshrubs or dwarf shrubs, aboveground stems creeping or erect, < 15 cm tall; leaves evergreen.
  2 Leaves 1.5-3 cm wide, coarsely toothed; flowers lacking sepals and petals; [exotic species, sparingly naturalized or spreading in suburban situations]
  2 Leaves < 1.5 cm wide, finely toothed or entire; flowers with sepals and petals; [native species, collectively widespread and common].
    3 Leaves fleshy, terete in ×-section; petals 5, bright pink
    3 Leaves flat, not fleshy; petals white or pale pink.
      4 Leaves < 2.5 mm wide; corolla with petals distinct; plant creeping
      4 Leaves > 5 mm wide; corolla with petals fused (distinct in Chimaphila); plant creeping or erect
1 Shrubs, aboveground stems erect, > 30 cm tall; leaves evergreen or deciduous.
        5 Inflorescence an involucrate (composite) head subtended by phyllaries, the heads solitary or many and variously arrayed in secondary inflorescences, the ovary inferior, the corolla connate and tubular at least basally, the calyx absent, the stamens 5, the fruit a cypsela
        5 Inflorescence, flower, and fruit structure various, but not with the combination of features as above.
          6 Leaves evergreen. {add to 6a Ardisia in PRIMULACEAE, Rhaphiolepis in ROSACEAE, Camellia in THEACEAE, Ochna in OCHNACEAE}
             7 Leaves glandular-punctate on one or both surfaces with golden-yellow glands; flowers unisexual, lacking a perianth (arranged in axillary catkins); fruit a pale gray, waxy drupe with a single seed
             7 Leaves not glandular punctate; flowers bisexual or unisexual, with a white, pink, or yellow perianth; fruit various: a red, blue, or black drupe, a berry with several seeds, or a capsule.
               8 Petals connate, flowers urceolate (ERICACEAE) or rotate, white to pale pink; flowers bisexual; fruit a drupe (Ehretia in EHRETIACEAE), OR a capsule or berry (ERICACEAE)
                 9 Flowers rotate, fragrant, the petals white, arranged primarily in terminal cymes; fruit an orange or yellow drupe, each bearing 2 hemispheric nutlets (these each also composed of 2 seeds, thus the fruit bearing 4 seeds)
                 9 Flowers urceolate, fragrant or not, the petals white to pale pink, variously arranged in terminal or axillary inflorescences (occasionally solitary in axils); fruit either a capsule or a red, blue, or black berry
               8 Petals distinct, yellow or white; flowers unisexual or bisexual; fruit either a black or red drupe with several pyrenes, a red berry with several seeds, or red or black pomes.
                   10 Plants with nodal, simple or tripartite thorns; flowers bisexual, with a yellow perianth; fruit a red berry with several seeds
                   10 Plants lacking thorns; flowers unisexual or bisexual, with a white perianth (yellow or red in Ochna); fruit either a black or red drupe with several pyrenes or a red or black pome.
                     11 Petals yellow, clawed; sepals red and forming a persistent red receptacle (torus) bearing numerous blackened drupes.
                     11 Petals white, not clawed; sepals not bright red nor persistent, the fruit a drupe or pome.
                       12 Flowers unisexual; fruit a black or red drupe with several pyrenes
          6 Leaves deciduous {add [Fagaceae]}.
                          13 Plants lacking thorns; leaf teeth acute, blunt, rounded, or callus-tipped, but not spinulose.
                              15 Leaves crenate or serrate, but usually not wavy, pubescence of leaves and stems simple {add to key; verify}
                            14 Leaves crenulate, serrate or serrulate, with >2 teeth per cm of leaf margin; leaves cuneate, rounded, or subcordate at base, not oblique; pubescence of leaves and stems absent or simple.
                                  17 Ovary 5-locular; stamens many or 5, fused or separate; fruit a 5-valved capsule or of 5 mericarps; flowers yellow or pink, or white with a pink blaze
                                  17 Ovary 3-locular; stamens 5, separate; fruit a 3-valved capsule or drupe; flowers white or pale green
                                    18 Flowers in catkins; perianth absent or very small; fruit a 1-seeded nut, samara, or waxy drupe (capsule in Salix in SALICACEAE).
                                       19 Leaves < 3 cm wide, either punctate-glandular on one or both surfaces or lacking punctate glands; fruit a 1-seeded waxy drupe or a capsule.
                                    18 Flowers arrayed variously, but not in catkins; perianth present, conspicuous; fruit a 1-many-seeded capsule, pome, berry, or follicle.
                                           21 Ovary superior; fruit either dry and dehiscent, a capsule or an aggregate of follicles or achenes, or fleshy and indehiscent, a drupe with 4-8 pyrenes.
                                                    25 Ovary 2-8-locular; fruit fleshy and indehiscent, a drupe with 2-8 pyrenes; flowers mostly functionally unisexual (or sometimes bisexual in RHAMNACEAE).
                                                      26 Petals connate at the base; stamens alternate to the petals and opposite to the sepals; fruit 4-8-locular, with 4-8 pyrenes
                                                      26 Petals separate (or absent in Rhamnus alnifolia); stamens opposite to the petals (when present) and alternate to the sepals; fruit 2-4-locular, with 2-4 pyrenes
                                                            29 Leaves > 5× as long as wide; stamens 2; ovary and capsule 3-locular; [plants of the Coastal Plain of SC, GA, AL, and FL]
                                                            29 Leaves < 3× as long as wide; stamens 5 or 10; ovary and capsule 2-3-locular; [plants collectively widespread].
                                                              30 Stamens 5; ovary and capsule 2-locular; leaves elliptic (widest near the middle), the teeth fine (usually > 5 points per cm of margin), and along much of the margin; inflorescence a terminal raceme; hairs of the lower leaf surface simple, erect
                                                              30 Stamens 10; ovary and capsule 3-locular; leaves obovate (widest towards the apex), the teeth obscure to coarse (usually < 4 points per cm of margin), and primarily in the upper half of the leaf; inflorescence a terminal or axillary raceme or cyme; hairs of the lower leaf surface either simple and appressed, or stellate.
                                                                 31 Leaf margins regularly and evenly serrate in the upper half of the leaf (usually nearly entire towards the base); inflorescence an elongate, many flowered (>30) raceme borne at the end of branchlets of the season; corolla of separate petals, the stamens separate; hairs of the lower leaf surface simple and appressed
                                                                 31 Leaf margins wavy or irregularly dentate, mainly in the upper half of the leaf; inflorescence a few flowered (<20) axillary raceme, cyme, or cluster; corolla fused basally into a tube, the stamens adnate to the tube; hairs of the lower leaf surface stellate

Key G6: trees with alternate, simple, unlobed, entire leaves

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1 Leaves evergreen. {add to 1a: Glycosmis in RUTACEAE}
  2 Leaves tiny, scale-like, broadest at the base and more or less clasping the stem, < 10 mm long and < 1 mm wide
  2 Leaves larger and broader, > 40 mm long and > 8 mm wide.
    3 Fruit a hesperidium; petiole flanged or winged for most of its length (except C. reticulata, which sometimes lacks wings entirely), constricted at the base of the blade (except linear in C. medica)
    3 Fruit various (but not a hesperidium); petiole linear (sometimes swollen, but not flanged nor winged with leafy tissue).
      4 Leaves pubescent with stellate hairs, rufous 2-branched hairs or peltate scales (these sometimes also mixed with simple hairs), OR leaves with glandular punctae, these appearing as translucent dots (best seen on lower leaf surfaces, with at least 10x magnification).
        5 Fruit an elongate-cylindric and pendulous capsule, borne on a slender gynophore; stamens usually much longer than the broadened petals and conspicuously exerted from the flowers
        5 Fruit not as above, instead an acorn (Quercus), a subglobose to ellipsoid berry (SAPOTACEAE), or a fleshy drupe (Elaeagnus); stamens not long exerted from the flowers, or if so, then the flowers apetalous (Melaleuca).
          6 Leaves (when fresh) strongly odorous, glandular-punctate (appearing as translucent dots), with strongly parallel venation; bark on medium-aged to mature trees papery and peeling; fruit a sub-globse capsule (the hypanthium somewhat woody)
          6 Leaves (when fresh) not strongly fragrant nor bearing glandular punctae, instead with stellate hairs, rufous 2-branched hairs, or punctate scales, leaf venation various but not strongly parallel, bark various but not papery.
             7 Plants exuding milky sap (when punctured); fruit a berry, these large, subglobose and roughened on the exterior (Manilkara) or smaller and ellipsoid to ovoid in shape (Chrysophyllum); plants (leaves or elsewhere) with rufous, 2-branched hairs (strongly rufous in Chrysophyllum; if leaves strongly glaucous and glabrous, as in Manilkara jamiqui, then leaf apices clearly retuse)
               8 Sepals 4-6 (in one whorl, these all imbricate); fruit an ellipsoid to ovoid berry, purple to black when ripened, the outer surface not notably roughened; leaves (abaxially) densely rufous throughout
               8 Sepals 6 (in 2 whorls of 3, the outer whorl valvate); fruit subglobose and , the outer surface brown and roughened when ripe; leaves glabrous (glaucous and with a retuse apex) or if rufous the hairs usually concentrated along the midrib
             7 Plants not with conspicuous milky sap; fruit a drupe (Elaeagnus) or acorn (Quercus); plants with peltate scales or stellate hairs.
                 9 Vestiture of the lower leaf surface of silvery and/or reddish peltate scales; plants hermaphroditic, the flowers bisexual; fruit a fleshy drupe
                 9 Vestiture of the lower leaf surface in part of stellate hairs (and also of simple acicular hairs and gland-tipped hairs); plants monoecious, the male flowers in yellow to brownish catkins, the female flowers solitary or in small spikes; fruit a nut in a cupule (an acorn)
      4 Leaves glabrous, or if hairy, the hairs strictly simple (sometimes also bearing a few conspicuous apical, marginal or abaxial pit domatia in COMBRETACEAE).
                   10 Flowers solitary, terminal, large (> 5 cm in diameter); pistils many, carpels separate; petals many (typically > 8); leaves mostly > 10 cm long (at least some on a branch longer than 10 cm); fruit an aggregate of follicles, each dehiscing along 1 suture; stipule scar circumferential at each node, encircling the twig
                   10 Flowers axillary or terminal, arranged variously in racemes, panicles, umbels, cymes, fascicles, or sometimes solitary (if so, < 5 cm in diameter); pistil 1, with 1-8 fused carpels; petals 3-8 (apetalous in Conocarpus); leaves < 30 cm long; fruit either a drupe, berry, or capsule; stipule scars either absent or linear or triangular, not circumferentially encircling the twig.
                     11 Inflorescence terminal, the flowers arranged in a corymb, umbel, compound cyme, or raceme (panicle in Pittosporum and sometimes Conocarpus); fruit either a capsule (dehiscing along 1 to 5 longitudinal sutures, elongate in CAPPARACEAE) or a 1-4-seeded drupe (Bourreria; Canella; Lumnitzera).
                       12 Flowers apetalous, arranged in small spherical heads within a raceme or panicle; plants of salt-exposed coastal habitats
                       12 Flowers bearing petals; plants of various inland and coastal habitats
                          13 Plants sometimes with pneumatophores; leaf blades with apical and pit-domatia present; [non-native, s. FL]
                          13 Plants never with pneumatophores; leaf blades without pit-domatia.
                            14 Inflorescence a simple corymb, umbel, or raceme (panicle in Pittosporum); petals white or pink; fruit a capsule, opening along 1, 3, or 5 sutures (or a 4-seeded drupe in Bourreria).
                              15 Fruit a drupe, the drupe bearing 4 bony nutlets with abaxial ridges; flowers white, rotate and salverform (the corolla tube evident), arranged in terminal cymes, the corolla lobes usually orbicular
                              15 Fruit a capsule (splitting along 1, 3, or 5 sutures); flowers white or pink, rotate but not salverform (lacking an evident lengthened corolla tube), arranged in terminal (or sometimes axillary) corymbs, umbels, or racemes (panicles in Pittosporum).
                                16 Capsules pendulous and conspicuously elongate-cylindric, borne on a slender gynophore; seeds few-many, contrasting sharply with the bright red capsule interior; plants shrubs or small trees, or sometimes loosely scrambling over other plants; stamens usually much longer than the petals and conspicuously exerted from the flowers
                                16 Capsules erect, not long-cylindric nor borne on a slender gynophore; capsule interior not bright red; plants shrubs or trees; stamens not conspicuously exerted past the petals.
                                  17 Ovaries 2-carpellate; capsules dehiscing along one major adaxial suture, appearing berry-like before dehiscence, the seeds often surrounded by a glutinous material
                                    18 Capsules ovoid to globose or subglobose, about as long as broad, 5-8 mm long; leaves 5-12 cm long, 2-3× as long as wide
                                    18 Capsules elongate, > 2× as long as broad, 8-18 mm long; leaves 10-30 cm long, 3-5× as long as wide
                     11 Inflorescence axillary, the flowers arranged in a raceme, panicle, umbel, fascicle, or sometimes flowers solitary; fruit drupaceous, fleshy to dry, but not regularly dehiscent along sutures.
                                       19 Flowers apetalous, arranged in small spherical heads within a raceme or panicle; plants of salt-exposed coastal habitats
                                       19 Flowers bearing petals, the inflorescence variously shaped (flowers occasionally solitary); plants of various inland and coastal habitats.
                                         20 Flowers solitary, axillary or superaxillary; perianth somewhat fleshy, in whorls of 3; carpels numerous, partly fused; fruit an aggregate syncarp
                                         20 Flowers in inflorescences of > 2 flowers (or if rarely solitary, then the perianth 5-merous); perianth not fleshy, in whorls of 4 or 5 (or 3 in Lauraceae); carpels 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, fused (at least basally); fruit a capsule, drupe, or berry
                                             22 Flowers arranged in axillary spikes; leaves clustered at branch tips; stipules reduced to glandular hairs at petiole base; plants armed or unarmed; branches arranged in tiers, the main branches erect, the lateral spreading horizontally
                                             22 Flowers arranged in axillary racemes; leaves clustered apically or spaced; stipules absent or shedding and linear-lanceolate; plants unarmed; branches not arranged in conspicuous tiers.
                                               23 Fruit a dry, tan to brown, spherical or winged drupe; stamens 5 or 10; carpels 2-5; leaves entire only, oblanceolate (rarely narrowly elliptic), < 2.5 cm wide, the apex obtuse (more rarely acute, retuse, or rounded); stipules absent
                                                 24 Fruit a fleshy and oily 1-seeded drupe; flowers 3-merous, with separate and undifferentiated perianth segments; fresh plants strongly aromatic; inflorescence compound, a panicle or compound cyme (with 2-3 orders of branching); [Basal Angiosperms]
                                                 24 Fruit a fleshy (but not oily) 1-8-seeded drupe, a berry, or a 2-4-locular capsule; flowers 4-8-merous, with differentiated sepals and petals, the petals usually basally fused; fresh plants not strongly aromatic; inflorescence an axillary umbel or fascicle (or reduced to solitary), a central axis absent or < 1 cm long; [Eudicots].
                                                    25 Leaves somewhat 2-ranked (subdistichous), the bases of the blades usually oblique; flowers yellowish-green, occasionally present on the trunks (plants cauliflorous), the trunks often fluted (with irregular vertical ridges, at least on larger plants); [c. and s. FL only in our flora area]
                                                    25 Leaves usually not subdistichous, the bases of the blades not oblique; flowers usually white (Ilex) or white, cream, greenish, or yellowish (Sideroxylon; Tricerma), these never present on trunks, the trunks rounded (not fluted); [collectively widespread, including FL]
                                                        27 Plants unarmed (stems lacking armature, but the leaves bearing marginal prickles or spines); stamens 4-7, not epipetalous; fruit a drupe with 4-8 pyrenes; flowers 4-7-merous
1 Leaves deciduous.
                                                          28 Leaf base deeply to shallowly cordate, with 3-7 palmate veins from the base; leaf blade about as wide as long or a little longer, mostly 0.9-1.3× as long as wide.
                                                            29 Juncture of petiole and leaf blade with 2 red glands; corolla radially symmetrical, with 5-8 petals, white with red veins towards the base of the petals; flowers unisexual; fruit globose, 4-8 cm in diameter; main palmate leaf veins 3 (-5)
                                                            29 Juncture of petiole and leaf blade eglandular, but the uppermost 1-3 mm of the petiole swollen into a prominent upper pulvinus; corolla bilaterally symmetrical, with 5 petals, pink to purple (rarely white in some cultivars); flowers bisexual; fruit an oblong, flat legume, 6-10 cm long; main palmate leaf veins 5-7 (-9)
                                                          28 Leaf base cuneate, rounded, truncate, subcordate, or auriculate (with 2 small “earlobe-like” lobes at the base of the leaf blade), with 1 (mid) vein from the base (3 veins from the base in Celtis in CANNABACEAE); leaf blade about as wide as long, or somewhat to much longer, 0.9-10× as long as wide.
                                                                 31 Stipule scars not circumferential (or not apparent); flowers and simple fruits in inflorescences of 1-many flowers, axillary or terminal, but not simultaneously solitary and terminal; [Eudicots].
                                                                     33 Petioles 1-5 (or more) cm long; leaves broadly orbicular, rounded at the base, usually rounded (rarely obtuse or nearly acute) at the apex, entire; hairs on foliage simple or absent; fruit a fleshy drupe
                                                                     33 Petioles < 1 cm long; leaves various in shape, often acuminate at the apex and/or cuneate at the base, often with some tendency to toothing; hairs on foliage stellate (use at least 10× magnification), at least in part; fruit either a nut borne in a cup (acorn) or a dry, subglobose 3-valved capsule, with 1 seed.
                                                                       34 Fruit a nut in a cupule (an acorn); flowers unisexual, greenish or brownish, individually inconspicuous, the male flowers borne in catkins
                                                                         35 Leaves densely covered with silvery peltate scales (use 10× or greater magnification), giving the leaf blade surface a metallic appearance
                                                                         35 Leaves glabrous, glabrescent or variously pubescent (including densely and silkily so, giving the leaf surface a shiny appearance), but not as above.
                                                                              37 Sap clear, not viscous; sepals 4; petals 4, densely long-hairy on their upper (inner) side); fruit a yellow, 1-seeded drupe, 20-30 mm long; [FL southward]
                                                                              37 Sap milky or nearly clear but thick and sticky; sepals 5; petals 5, not densely long-hairy; fruit a black, 5-seeded berry, 5-15 mm long; [widespread in our area]
                                                                           36 Plants unarmed (except spiny in Maclura in MORACEAE); leaves various in shape, from broadest towards the base, near the middle, or towards the apex, 3-80 cm long, 1-30 cm wide, 1.5-10× as long as wide.
                                                                                38 Leaves distinctly widest near the base (at a point < 0.3× of the way from the base of the leaf blade to its apex), gradually long-tapering to an acuminate apex.
                                                                                38 Leaves widest near the middle or towards the tip of the leaf blade (at a point > 0.4× of the way from the base of the leaf blade to its apex).
                                                                                    40 Pubescence of the foliage stellate (at least in part; simple hairs sometimes present as well); flowers unisexual, the individual flowers inconspicuous, male flowers in catkins; fruit a nut in a cupule (an acorn)
                                                                                    40 Pubescence of the foliage simple or absent (except stellate in STYRACACEAE); flowers bisexual, conspicuous, borne variously, but not in catkins (except in Leitneria); fruit various.
image of plant
Show caption*© Alan Cressler: Leitneria floridana (male catkin), St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, St. Marks Unit, Wakulla County, Florida 1 by Alan Cressler
                                                                                        42 Flowers unisexual and borne in male and female catkins; plants dioecious
                                                                                           43 Flowers solitary; ovary superior; perianth either 3-merous and whorled or many-merous and spiraled; leaves mostly > 20 cm long and > 8 cm wide, distinctly broadest towards the apex (> 0.6× of the way from the leaf blade base to apex) (except Magnolia acuminata, which is sometimes both shorter, narrower, and broadest near the middle or towards the base); [Basal Angiosperms].
                                                                                             44 Flowers terminal, > 4 cm across, white, pale yellow, or pink; perianth many-merous, spiraled; fresh foliage not noticeably aromatic; fruit an aggregate of follicles; leaves cuneate or auriculate at the base; twigs with circumferential stipule scars at each node
                                                                                           43 Flowers in inflorescences of several to many; ovary inferior (or superior in Diospyros in EBENACEAE and Cyrilla in CYRILLACEAE); perianth 4-5-merous; leaves mostly < 20 cm long and < 10 cm wide, broadest near the middle or towards the apex; [Eudicots].
                                                                                               45 Leaves with prominently parallel-arcing secondary veins; inflorescence a terminal corymb; leaves clustered at the tips of the twigs, thus appearing pseudo-whorled; trichomes of the leaf undersurface predominantly 2-branched (some simple) (use at least 10× magnification); flowers 4-merous; fruit a blue drupe; small tree
                                                                                               45 Leaves with secondary veins more obscure and complexly branching into tertiary veins; inflorescence axillary (often on the previous year’s wood), solitary to variously fascicled, clustered, or in racemes; leaves arrayed distichously along horizontal or arching twigs, not prominently clustered or pseudo-whorled (except often in Cyrilla in CYRILLACEAE, Symplocos in SYMPLOCACEAE, and Nyssa in NYSSACEAE); trichomes of the leaf undersurface either simple or stellate (or absent); flowers 4-5-merous; fruit a green, blue, or black drupe, an orange berry, or a green to brownish indehiscent capsule; small to large tree.
                                                                                                 46 Pubescence of foliage and other parts simple; petals either 0, or 4-5 and pink, white, or greenish-yellow, or 10 and greenish-yellow; fruit either a somewhat to very fleshy drupe or berry or a dry, brownish, spherical drupe, 2-2.5 mm in diameter.
                                                                                                   47 Leaves > 2.5 cm wide, usually medium-green above, herbaceous in texture, promptly seasonally deciduous; fruit a somewhat to very fleshy drupe or berry, > 5 mm in diameter; inflorescence a solitary flower or cluster, head, or irregular raceme of < 15 flowers.
                                                                                                     48 Fruit a drupe (green when ripe), cylindrical to barrel-shaped, 8-12 mm long; leaves rather thick and leathery in texture, persistent into the winter, dropping tardily or at latest the following spring; flowers bisexual; stamens 30-50, in 5 fascicles
                                                                                                     48 Fruit a berry (orange when ripe) or a drupe (blue-black, yellow, orange, or red when ripe), 8-50 mm long, spherical or ovoid to ellipsoid; leaves thin in texture, promptly deciduous in the autumn; flowers functionally unisexual; stamens 5-16, separate.
                                                                                                        49 Fruit a spherical berry, 15-50 mm long, orange when ripe, subtended by the enlarged and persistent woody or leathery calyx; vascular bundles 1 per leaf scar; leaves never toothed; leaves whitish-green beneath; leaf midrib and upper petiole with tiny glands on their upper surfaces (reddish initially, then darkening) (use at least 10× magnification); leaves glabrate to tomentose with curly hairs beneath; female and male flowers on separate trees (dioecious); stamens 16; widest point of the leaf usually at the middle or below, the apex acute to acuminate
                                                                                                        49 Fruit an ovoid or ellipsoid drupe, 8-30 -40 mm long, blue-black, yellow, orange, or red when ripe; vascular bundles 3 per leaf scar; leaves sometimes bearing a few irregular teeth; leaves pale to medium green beneath; leaf midrib and upper petiole lacking reddish to dark glands on their upper surfaces; leaves glabrous or glabrate beneath; female and male flowers on the same tree (monoecious); stamens 5-12; widest point of the leaf usually beyond or at the middle, the apex obtuse to strikingly and abruptly acuminate

Key G7: trees with alternate, simple, unlobed, toothed leaves

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1 Leaves evergreen.
  2 Petiole flanged or winged (except C. reticulata, which sometimes lacks wings entirely), constricted at the base of the blade; fruit a hesperidium
  2 Petiole linear (not flanged or winged with leafy tissue); fruit various.
    3 Inflorescence a thin (superficially spike-like) thyrse; leaves linear-lanceolate, the petiole apex bearing 2 glands; seeds with a red aril; [waif, Escambia County, FL]
    3 Inflorescence various, not a thyrse (if thin, then flowers arranged in catkins in FAGACEAE); leaves variously lanceolate, elliptic to ovate or rounded, the petiole apex not bearing 2 glands; seeds not bearing red arils; [widespread natives and non-natives]
      4 Leaves 7-20 cm long, usually at least some on a branch > 12 cm long, thick in texture but readily flexible when fresh.
        5 Inflorescence of a solitary flower, axillary, 5-7 cm across; fruit a capsule, ca. 1 cm in diameter
        5 Incflorescence a corymb or cyme of many, smaller flowers; fruit a pome, 0.4-0.8 (-1.2) cm in diameter (Photinia) or a drupe of similar size (Ehretia).
          6 Fruit an orange to yellow drupe, ultimately containing 4 seeds (from 2 paired nutlets); inflorescence a cyme
      4 Leaves 3-12 cm long, thick in texture and also noticeably stiff.
             7 Leaves somewhat 2-ranked (subdistichous), the bases of the blades usually oblique; flowers yellowish-green, occasionally present on the trunks (plants cauliflorous), the trunks smooth and white, sometimes fluted (with irregular vertical ridges, at least on larger plants); [c. and s. FL only in our flora area]
             7 Leaves subdistichous or not, the bases of the blades not oblique; flowers variously colored (usually white in Ilex and Ehretia, brownish-white and apetalous in Fagaceae); plants never cauliflorous, the trunks smooth or with thickened ridges, rarely fluted.
               8 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; flowers not catkins, bearing petals; fruit berrylike, usually at least somewhat fleshy
               8 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 somewhat ascendant; flowers catkins and apetalous (FAGACEAE) or bearing petals (Ehretia in EHRETIACEAE); fruit an acorn (not fleshy) or a drupe (somewhat fleshy).
                 9 Flowers bearing petals, arranged in cymes; fruit a drupe, usually at least somewhat fleshy
                 9 Flowers catkins, apetalous; fruit an acorn, not fleshy
1 Leaves deciduous.
image of plant
Show caption*© Alan Weakley
                   10 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.
                     11 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.
                       12 Flowers unisexual, in catkins, the tree monoecious; leaf base symmetrical
                       12 Flowers bisexual, in axillary fascicles, the tree androgynous; leaf base strongly asymmetrical (oblique) or nearly or quite symmetrical.
                     11 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.
                          13 Fruit dry, single-seeded (or with 1-4 nuts in Castanea).
                            14 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
image of plant
Show caption*© Keith Bradley
                   10 Secondary veins not as above, usually arching and/or branching or reticulating well before reaching the leaf margin; fruit various.
                              15 Leaves strongly 3-5-veined from the base; leaf blade cordate or truncate, usually oblique.
                                16 Inflorescence terminal, a compound cyme; peduncles and pedicels becoming swollen, fleshy, and juicy at maturity; [plant rarely naturalized]
                                16 Inflorescence axillary, a solitary flower, a fascicle or cluster, or a cyme; peduncles and pedicels remaining stalk-like; [collectively widespread and common].
                                  17 Flowers unisexual, plants monoecious; bark on mature trees usually warty or with corky fissures; pith of mature twigs chambered with hollow sections between soft partitions (Celtis) or solid (Trema).
                                    18 Leaf blades entire or irregularly serrate (the margins usually with at least some portions entire, even if minimal), the lower surfaces glabrous or nearly so; cymes few-flowered (at least pistillate); [collectively widespread]
                                    18 Leaf blade margins uniformly serrate or crenate throughout (the teeth uniform and without some portions entire), the lower surfaces pubescent; flowers many (12-20), arranged in dense axillary cymes; [FL and s. TX only in our area]
                                  17 Flowers bisexual; plants hermaphroditic; pith of mature twigs continuous without hollow sections between partitions.
                                       19 Flowers white, showy, and often singular (the petals 12-20 mm long); fruit a red berry 10-15 mm in diameter; [uncommon non-native, s. FL]
                                       19 Flowers either smaller yellowish-white cymes (Tilia) or unisexual pistillate heads or staminate catkins (Moraceae); fruit either nutlike and bearing a curved bract (Tilia) or a fleshy syncarp (Moraceae); [widespread native and non-natives]
                                         20 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)
                                         20 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
                                           21 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
                                           21 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.
                                               23 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.
                                                 24 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.
                                                      26 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
                                                      26 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.
                                                        27 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)