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Key to Primulaceae

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1 Shrub or tree; [of FL, s. GA, s. AL, LA, se. TX, and southward]
  2 Fruit a berry, with (1-) 2-8 seeds; fruits 9-10 mm or 30-40 mm in diameter; [subfamily Theophrastoideae]
    3 Fruits 30-40 mm in diameter; seeds 9-11 mm long, flattened; leaves 2.5-4× as long as wide, widest near the midpoint, the apex acute to acuminate and also aristate; corollas yellow to orange or red
    3 Fruits 9-10 mm in diameter; seeds 3-5 mm long, subglobose; leaves 1.5-3× as long as wide, widest towards the tip, spatulate or obovate, the apex rounded, truncate, or obtuse; corollas white to cream
  2 Fruit a drupe, with 1 seed; fruits 3.5-8 mm in diameter; [subfamily Myrsinoideae].
      4 Flowers in axillary or terminal cymes, umbels, subumbels, panicles, or racemes of 5-many flowers; flowers bisexual
image of plant
Show caption*© Keith Bradley
      4 Flowers in fascicles of 5-9, on short stalks directly on the stem; flowers unisexual
1 Herb; [collectively widespread].
        5 Aquatic; leaves pectinate (deeply pinnatifid into linear segments); [subfamily Primuloideae]
        5 Terrestrial (though sometimes in wetlands or submersed for short periods of time); leaves entire or shallowly toothed.
          6 Leaves strictly in a basal rosette or basally disposed (with a basal rosette and smaller stem leaves).
             7 Basal leaves petiolate; leaf base cordate; leaves typically variegated with varying shades of green and silver
             7 Basal leaves sessile; leaf bases cuneate to rounded; leaves not variegated.
               8 Inflorescence a raceme or a panicle of racemes; larger leaves basal and smaller leaves on the stem; [subfamily Theophrastidoideae, tribe Samoleae]
               8 Inflorescence an umbel; leaves strictly basal; [subfamily Primuloideae]
                 9 Leaves < 3 cm long; corolla < 6 mm long, included or nearly so in the calyx; [s. IN, s. IL, MO, n. and w. AR, and TX northwestwards]
                 9 Leaves > 4 cm long; corolla 8-30 mm long, exserted beyond the calyx; [collectively widespread in our area]
          6 Leaves all or chiefly cauline; [subfamily Myrsinoideae]
                   10 Leaves all or chiefly alternate; flowers white or whitish.
                     11 Flowers solitary and nearly sessile in leaf axils
                     11 Flowers in a terminal raceme
                   10 Leaves all or chiefly opposite or whorled; flowers yellow, blue, red, or whitish.
                       12 Leaves whorled at a single node at the terminus of the stem; petals 7
                       12 Leaves arrayed along the stem, alternate, opposite, or whorled; petals 5 (rarely 0 [in Lysimachia maritima] or 6 [in Lysimachia thyrsiflora])
                          13 Flowers blue or red
                          13 Flowers yellow.
                            14 Flowers lacking staminodes; filaments either connate below or free (Lysimachia thyrsiflora); leaves “punctate” with sinuous, elongate markings (visible with the naked eye, but more readily observed with 10× magnification and ideally with transmitted light).
                            14 Flowers with staminodes alternating with the stamens; filaments free; leaves not "punctate" (see above).