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1 Plant a twining vine ( herbaceous or woody at base) to 5 m long; stem with stinging hairs; [subfamily Acalyphoideae] |
1 Plant not twining; instead a tree, shrub, or herb (or weakly twining in some Tragia, but then less than 1 m long); stem either armed with stinging hairs, or not armed. |
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4 Hairs of vegetative parts of the plant (especially the leaf undersurface) present and either 2-branched, stellate, or modified into lepidote scales (use 10× or more magnification); [subfamily Crotonoideae]. |
4 Hairs of vegetative parts of the plant (especially the leaf undersurface) absent or unbranched (simple) (use 10× or more magnification). |
5 Flowers enclosed in a cyathium; plant with copious white latex; [subfamily Euphorbioideae] |
5 Flowers not enclosed in a cyathium; plant either with or without white latex (the sap clear to whitish or absent). |
6 Leaf blades 1-1.5× as long as wide; [ exotic trees]. |
7 Petioles 9-19 cm long; [subfamily Crotonoideae] |
7 Petioles 2-6 cm long; [subfamily Acalyphoideae] |
6 Leaf blades 1.5-5× as long as wide; native or exotic shrubs or, rarely, small trees. |
8 Sepals absent; latex watery; leaf margins obscurely gland- toothed; [subtropical hardwood hammocks of far southern FL]; [subfamily Euphorbioideae] |
8 Sepals present; latex absent or watery; leaf margins entire; [various habitats and collectively widespread]. |
9 Latex colorless to whitish, watery; capsules ovoid or ellipsoidal; [FL peninsula and s. TX]; [subfamily Crotonoideae] |
9 Latex absent; capsules subglobose; [collectively widespread in our region]. |
10 Leaves palmately veined at base; inflorescence bracts not subtended by glands; [s. TX and southwards]; [subfamily Acalyphoideae] |
10 Leaves pinnately veined; inflorescence bracts with 2 subtending glands; [widespread from NC to FL west to AR and e. TX]; [subfamily Euphorbioideae] |
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11 Plants hairy with 2-branched hairs (malpighiaceous trichomes); [subfamily Acalyphoideae] |
11 Plants either glabrous or hairy with simple or stellate trichomes. |
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13 Petals present; inflorescence a cyme or dichasium; leaf lobe margins entire or serrate; [subfamily Crotonoideae]. |
14 Shrub or tree; inflorescence a fascicle or cyme; capsule ellipsoidal |
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12 Leaves unlobed, margins crenate (obscurely crenate in Hippomane and Adelia) or serrate. |
15 Leaves 8-20× as long as wide ( lanceolate to linear); petiole with 0 or 2 glands at summit. |
16 Petiole with 2 glands at summit; [ exotic, on ballast in Pensacola, FL] |
16 Petiole lacking 2 glands at summit; [native, widespread in our area] |
15 Leaves 1-3× as long as wide ( elliptic, ovate, or obovate); petiole with 0 or 1 gland at summit. |
17 Lower leaf surface densely stellate- pubescent; leaf strongly toothed; [TX]; [subfamily Acalyphoideae] |
17 Lower leaf surface glabrous; leaf entire, obscurely crenate, or serrulate. |
18 Leaf blades obovate, 2-3× as long as wide, with a rounded apex; petiole < 0.2 cm long; fruit a capsule, 1.0-1.3 cm in diameter; [TX]; [subfamily Acalyphoideae] |
18 Leaf blades ovate, 1-2× as long as wide, with an acute apex; petiole 1-6 cm long; fruit a drupe, 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter; [FL]; [subfamily Euphorbioideae] |
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19 Leaves palmately deeply divided into 3-many lobes. |
 Show caption*© Alexis López Hernández, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Alexis López Hernández Plants with a prominent, round woody shallow subterranean caudex to 13.5 cm in diameter; [subfamily Crotonoideae] |
20 Plants lacking a prominent subterranean caudex. |
21 Leaves peltate; plant glabrous; stamens 100-1000; [subfamily Acalyphoideae] |
21 Leaves cordate to truncate or rounded at base; plant glabrous, stellate, or with conspicuous stinging trichomes; stamens 8-15; [subfamily Crotonoideae]. |
22 Plant with stinging trichomes; stamens connate |
22 Plant lacking stinging trichomes; stamens separate. |
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23 Latex white; pubescence absent or of non- stellate hairs |
19 Leaves generally not lobed, entire or serrate (rarely pinnately lobed in Euphorbia). |
24 Plants hairy with stellate hairs and/or scales; [subfamily Crotonoideae] |
24 Plants glabrous or hairy with simple or 2-branched hairs. |
25 Plants hairy with 2-branched hairs (malpighiaceous trichomes); [subfamily Acalyphoideae] |
25 Plants glabrous or hairy with simple hairs. |
26 Flowers enclosed in a cyathium; plant (fresh) with copious white latex; [subfamily Euphorbioideae] |
26 Flowers not enclosed in a cyathium; plant (fresh) with or without white latex. |
27 Flowers in terminal spikes; stout perennial with several to many stems arising from a subterranean crown; [subfamily Euphorbioideae] |
27 Flowers strictly axillary or both axillary and terminal, in small clusters, racemes, or spikes; finer perennial or annual, not typically with > 1 stem arising from a subterranean crown; [subfamily Acalyphoideae] |
28 Leaves opposite; carpels 2 |
28 Leaves alternate; carpels 3 (sometimes fewer by abortion). |
29 Pistillate flowers subtended by a conspicuous leafy bract |
29 Pistillate flowers lacking a leafy bract. |
30 Plant lacking stinging trichomes; styles deeply multifid; [wetland habitats] |
30 Plant with stinging trichomes; styles undivided; [upland habitats] |
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2 Lianas climbing by twining or by tendrils. |
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3 Lianas climbing by tendrils. |
4 Tendrils branched, leaf-opposed; leaves mostly 5-7- lobed, the margins also serrate or dentate |
4 Tendrils simple (though paired in Smilax in SMILACACEAE), axillary; leaves 3- lobed, the margins entire, serrulate, or prickly. |
5 Leaves longer than wide, entire or prickly-margined; stems usually obviously armed with prickles; flowers 6 -merous, greenish, in umbels borne in leaf axils; tendrils stipular, 2 per leaf axil, adnate to the petiole basally |
5 Leaves wider than long, entire or serrulate; stems not armed; flowers 5 -merous, blue-purple or yellow, solitary or in small fascicles in leaf axils; tendrils 1 per leaf axil |
1 Trees or shrubs. {add: Vernicia in EUPHORBIACEAE, Firmiana in MALVACEAE, Kalopanax in ARALIACEAE, Ficus in MORACEAE} |
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7 Leaves > 3 dm long and wide; tree monopodial, with a single, unbranched stem (rarely with a few branches). |
8 Leaf lobes > 15, not sublobed; venation of each lobe parallel; fruit a drupe, with 1 seed; [Monocots] |
8 Leaf lobes < 13, most of these sublobed; venation of each lobe pinnate; fruit either a many-seeded berry or a single-seeded nutlet; [Eudicots]. |
9 Petiole attachment marginal; leaf lobes mostly sublobed; fruit a large berry, with many seeds |
9 Petiole attachment peltate; leaf lobes not sublobed; fruit an nutlet, single-seeded |
7 Leaves < 3 dm long and wide; tree branching; [Eudicots]. |
10 Leaves 2- lobed (deeply notched at the apex, each lobe separated by the midvein, asymmetrical; [peninsular FL and s. TX] |
10 Leaves 3-5 (-7) lobed; [collectively widespread]. |
11 Leaf blades (3-) 5 (-7) lobed, to 15 cm wide and long, each lobe finely serrate- crenate (>3 teeth per cm of margin) and rarely with a small sub- lobe; multiple fruit spherical and spiky, consisting of multiple bird- beak-like loculicidal capsules; buds axillary |
11 Leaves 3 (-5)- lobed, to 35 cm wide and long, each lobe coarsely toothed or sublobed, the teeth or sublobes (at most 1-2 per cm of margin) attenuate- acuminate; multiple fruit spherical and merely rough on the surface, consisting of multiple achenes with tawny bristles; buds infrapetiolar (completely hidden in the swollen petiole base) |
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12 Leaf lobe margins entire (or undulate to sublobed at the tip) |
12 Leaf lobe margins serrate. |
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13 Leaves pubescent (slightly or strongly). |
14 Pubescence of simple hairs; plants armed or not with nodal spines |
15 Leaves 10-30 cm long and wide; fruit a berry; inflorescence of solitary to a few flowers, or a raceme |
15 Leaves 2-10 cm long and wide; fruit an aggregate of drupelets; inflorescence a cyme |
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