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1 Leaves 2-foliolate or 1-foliolate (and then deeply notched). |
2 Leaves 1-foliolate (2- lobed) |
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1 Leaves 3-, 5-, to many-foliolate. |
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4 Plant a liana, climbing by twining, by tendrils, or by adventitious roots. |
5 Leaves untoothed and unlobed |
5 Leaves coarsely toothed or lobed. {add Eleutherococcus trifoliatus ARALIACEAE} |
6 Leaflets obovate or broadly elliptic (broadest at or above the middle), the teeth or lobes primarily or solely in the apical half of the leaf; plant climbing by leaf-opposed tendrils |
6 Leaflets orbicular or ovate (broadest at the middle or below the middle), the teeth or lobes primarily or solely in the basal half of the leaf; plant climbing by stem twining or by dense, reddish adventitious roots. |
7 Plant climbing by the stem twining; [plant not actually woody, but so robust as to often be assumed to be so] |
7 Plant climbing by dense, reddish adventitious roots attaching the stem to tree trunks or rock outcrops |
4 Plant a shrub (sometimes scrambling or occasionally high- climbing with the support of other vegetation, but lacking the specialized climbing structures listed above). |
8 Stems armed with small prickles or stout thorns. |
9 Stems with stout thorns at the nodes; fruit a hesperidium (orange-like, but densely hairy) |
9 Stems with many small prickles along the internodes; fruit either a legume, or an aggregate of drupelets, or a hip. |
10 Leaflets with 2 rounded lateral lobes near the base, otherwise entire; fruit a legume |
10 Leaflets serrate and sometimes also cleft; fruit either an aggregate of drupelets or a hip |
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11 Leaflets serrulate, crenulate, serrate, with a few coarse and jagged teeth ( spine-tipped or not), or shallowly lobed. |
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12 Leaflets serrate, with a few coarse and jagged teeth ( spine-tipped or not), or shallowly lobed. |
13 Leaflets with 2 prominent, rounded lobes near the base; fruit a legume; flowers > 3 cm long, corollas bilaterally symmetrical, red, in a terminal raceme |
13 Leaflets serrate and sometimes also cleft, or with a few coarse and jagged teeth ( spine-tipped or not); fruit either a tan or red drupe or a red berry; flowers < 1 cm across, corollas radially symmetrical, green, yellow, or white, in axillary or terminal panicles or racemes |
14 Leaflets with a few spine-tipped teeth; fruit a red berry; [TX westwards] |
14 Leaflets not spine-tipped; fruit a red or tan drupe; [collectively widespread] |
11 Leaflets entire and unlobed. |
15 Terminal leaflet sessile. |
16 Leaflets < 2 cm long; stems and branches dark green |
16 Leaflets 5-15 cm long; stems and branches tan to brown |
15 Terminal leaflet with a petiolule. |
17 Leaves pinnately trifoliolate, a rachis present as an extension of the petiole past the point of attachment of the 2 lateral leaflets, the terminal leaflet borne on a petiolule at the terminus of the rachis, with an obvious joint present between the rachis and petiolule |
17 Leaves palmately trifoliolate, the terminal leaflet typically with a longer petiolule than the lateral leaflets, but lacking a rachis (the petiolule of the terminal leaflet attached at the same point as the 2 lateral leaflets and unjointed) |
3 Leaves with 5-many leaflets (poorly developed leaves in some species with only 3 leaflets). |
18 Leaves palmately or palmately-pedately compound. |
19 Leaves palmately-pedately 5-foliolate (the lateral 2 leaflets on each side borne on a common Y-shaped stalk). |
20 Leaflets entire; sap milky |
20 Leaflets toothed; sap clear |
19 Leaves palmately compound (all the leaflets attached at a single point). |
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22 Leaflets with entire margins |
22 Leaflets with serrate margins. |
23 Stems armed with prickles scattered in the internodes |
23 Stems unarmed or with paired nodal spines. |
24 Inflorescence an umbel; leaves evergreen, glossy; stems often with paired nodal spines |
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18 Leaves pinnately, bipinnately, or complexly compound. |
25 Leaves at least in part pinnate- pinnatifid, 2- pinnate, or otherwise more complexly compound than 1- pinnate. |
26 Leaves evenly 2- pinnately compound |
26 Leaves oddly pinnate- pinnatifid, 2- pinnately compound, or more complexly compound than 2- pinnate. |
27 Leaves pinnate- pinnatifid, with 7-19 leaflets, each leaflet pinnatifid into narrowly lanceolate lobes; {upper leaflet surface dark green, lower surface silvery with gray sericeous pubescence} |
27 Leaves 2- pinnately compound, or even more complexly compound. |
28 Plant a liana, climbing by tendrils |
28 Plant a shrub or tree, not climbing. |
29 Plant armed with prickles on the stem, and sometimes also on the axes and main veins of the leaves |
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30 Plant a shrub, < 2.5 m tall. |
31 Foliage green; leaflets ovate, acute at the tip; flowers 3 -merous, the tepals white or cream; fruit a red berry |
31 Foliage blue-green; leaflets obovate, rounded or notched at the tip; flowers 4-5 -merous, the sepals green, the petals yellow; fruit a capsule |
30 Plant a tree, > 3 m tall when flowering and fruiting. |
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33 Fruit a globose drupe, tan at maturity, 10-15 mm in diameter; inflorescence an axillary panicle; corolla lavender |
33 Fruit an inflated capsule, 30-50 mm long; inflorescence a terminal thyrse; corolla yellow |
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34 Leaves even- pinnately compound (generally with 2 leaflets at the apex of the rachis, these obviously and symmetrically paired). |
35 Leaflets rounded to obtuse at the apex (or acute to acuminate in Gymnocladus); fruit a legume; inflorescence various, but not as below |
35 Leaflets acuminate at the apex; fruit a drupe or capsule; inflorescence a panicle with many, small, radially symmetrical flowers. |
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37 Tree dioecious; drupe ca. 5 mm long; stamens (of male flowers) 3-5 (-7) |
37 Tree bisexual; drupe ca. 13 mm long; stamens 8-10 |
34 Leaves odd- pinnately compound (generally with a single leaflet at the terminus of the rachis). |
38 Leaves very large, > 10 dm long |
38 Leaves small to large, < 10 dm long. |
39 Stems armed with prickles or stipular or nodal spines; leaves often also with prickles. |
40 Leaves with conspicuous leafy stipules, often adnate to the petiole; plant a liana or small to medium shrub; leaves serrate, often sharply and prominently so; leaves not strongly aromatic when fresh, lacking pellucid punctate glands on the surface |
40 Leaves lacking leafy stipules; plant a tree or tall shrub; leaves entire or obscurely crenate or serrate; plant a tree or tall shrub; leaves either strongly aromatic when fresh, with conspicuous pellucid punctate glands or not aromatic and not pellucid- punctate. |
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41 Leaves strongly aromatic when fresh, with conspicuous pellucid punctate glands; leaves often with prickles on the rachis; leaflet apices usually acuminate |
39 Stems unarmed (leaflets with spinose margins in some species, or the stem with dense hispid hairs). |
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43 Plant an upright shrub or tree, not climbing. |
44 Plant a medium or tall tree. |
45 Leaves with stipules; flowers bilaterally symmetrical, papilionaceous, white, cream, or pink; stamens 10; fruit a legume; [collectively widespread in our area] |
45 Leaves without stipules; flowers radially symmetrical, whitish; stamens 5 or 10; fruit a single-seeded drupe; [FL peninsula] |
44 Plant a shrub or small tree to 7 (-10) m tall. |
46 Leaf 2-5 cm long, with 5-7 leaflets |
46 Leaf > 8 cm long, with 5-many leaflets. |
47 Flowers bilaterally symmetrical, papilionaceous (reduced in Amorpha to a single petal); stamens 10; fruit a legume; leaves with stipules. |
47 Flowers radially symmetrical, stamens 4-5; fruit either a drupe (Anacardiaceae), or a 1-3-seeded berry or a samara (Picramniaceae); leaves without stipules. |
48 Inflorescence a panicle; fruit a drupe; [collectively widespread] |
48 Inflorescence a raceme or compound thyrse; fruit a samara or 1-3-seeded berry; [s. FL] |
42 Leaflets serrate or crenate. |
49 Leaflets crenate, the teeth rounded and often inconspicuous. |
50 Leaflets with obscure crenations, not as below nor bearing glands; leaf rachis narrowly to conspicuously winged, especially towards the tip; fruit a drupe; plant a shrub or small tree |
50 Leaflets (especially the basal and on the basalscopic side) with 1-5 large rounded teeth, each bearing a prominent dark green gland; leaf rachis not winged; fruit a schizocarp, with 2-5 samaroid mericarps; plant a medium to large tree |
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51 Leaf serrations spinose |
51 Leaf serrations not spinose. |
52 Inflorescences axillary. |
53 Plant a tree, freely branched; rhizome inner bark not brightly colored; flowers unisexual, the male flowers in catkins, the female flowers solitary or few in a spike, the perianth greenish or tan and inconspicuous; fruit a nut covered by a dehiscent or indehiscent involucre |
53 Plant a short shrub, < 1 m tall, little branched; rhizome inner bark of fresh plants bright yellow; flowers bisexual, petals absent, the 5 petaloid sepals maroon; inflorescence a drooping panicle from the base of the new year’s growth; fruit an aggregate of follicles |
52 Inflorescences terminal. |
54 Inflorescence corymbose (flat-topped or rounded, as wide as long or wider); fruit a red pome |
54 Inflorescence paniculate (longer than wide); fruit various (see below), but not as above. |
55 Leaves stipulate; flowers bright white; fruit an aggregate of 5 follicles |
55 Leaves lacking stipules; flowers cream or yellow; fruit either a drupe or an inflated membranaceous capsule. |
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56 Fruit an inflated membranaceous capsule |
1 Liana, climbing by twining; [tribe Millettieae] |
2 Inflorescence a stiff panicle; leaflets (5-) 7-9; ovary and fruit glabrous; leaves evergreen |
2 Inflorescence a pendent raceme; leaflets 7-19; ovary and fruit either glabrous or densely velvety- villous; leaves cold- deciduous |
1 Shrubs and trees, lacking climbing adaptations. |
3 Leaflets glandular- punctate (not requiring magnification). |
4 Leaflets 4-10 cm long; leaves with 7-13 leaflets; large tree; flowers ca. 15 mm long, pink-purple; [tribe Milletieae] |
4 Leaflets 0.4-4 (-7) cm long; leaves with (7-) 9-31 leaflets; shrub or small tree; flowers 4-11 mm long, white, cream, violet, purple, or blue; [tribe Amorpheae]. |
5 Corolla reduced to a single petal (the standard); flowers whitish, sky blue, dark blue, purple, or violet; [collectively widespread] |
5 Corolla of 5 petals; flowers white to cream, sometimes 'fading' to dark purple; [s. FL, TX]. |
6 Flowers papilionoid, either cream, fading purplish, or bicolored white and purple; [s. FL, TX, OK] |
6 Flowers only slightly bilaterally symmetrical, white; [TX] |
3 Leaflets lacking punctate glands. |
7 Leaflets 3-9 per leaf; leaflets 2-15 (-20) cm long; small or large tree (to shrub in Dermatophyllum secundiflorum). |
8 Lateral leaflets all or mostly alternate along the rachis. |
9 Leaflets (5-) 7-9 per leaf; flowers 18-25 mm long, white; [native, also planted; SC, GA, AL, MS, and LA northwards] |
9 Leaflets 3-5 (-7) per leaf; flowers ca. 10 mm long, yellow-white or pinkish; [non-native; FL peninsula] |
8 Lateral leaflets strictly in opposite pairs. |
10 Stamens free; [tribe Sophoreae]. |
11 Corollas 14-16 mm long, blue-purple; fruit turgid and cylindrical, but torulose- constricted between the scarlet seeds; [native; TX] |
11 Corollas 7-11 mm long, cream to white; fruit flattened, not constricted between the tan to light brown seeds; [non-native] |
10 Stamens monadelphous or diadelphous; [FL peninsula]; [tribe Milletieae] |
12 Fruit woody, unwinged, with 1 very large (ca. 2 cm long) seed; stamens diadelphous |
12 Fruit 2-9 cm long, membranaceous, with 4 broad, tan, ruffled wings and 1-6 black seeds; stamens monadelphous |
7 Leaflets (5-) 7-31 per leaf, at least the larger and better developed leaves on a plant with 11 or more leaflets; leaflets 0.4-12 cm long; shrub, small tree, or large tree. |
13 Corollas 5-6 mm long, pink or purplish; fruits 15-35 mm long, 1-3 mm wide |
13 Corollas 9-30 mm long, yellow, white, pink, or purplish; fruits 25-150 (-200) mm long, 5-35 mm wide. |
14 Corollas ca. 10 mm long, pink or purplish; fruit a single-seeded, globose or broadly ellipsoid drupe, 2.5-4 cm long, 2-3 cm in diameter; leaflets 4-12 cm long; [s. FL] |
14 Corollas 15-30 mm long, white, pink, purplish, or bright yellow or coppery; fruit a legume, seeds several; leaflets 2-6 cm long; [collectively widespread] |
15 Corollas bright yellow or coppery; fruits about as thick as wide, either bladdery- inflated or moniliform (like beads on a string). |
16 Fruits bladdery- inflated, 50-70 mm long, 20-30 mm in diameter; stamens diadelphous; [cultivated ornamental, rarely establishing] |
16 Fruits moniliform (like beads on a string), 100-200 mm long, 7-8 mm in diameter at the seeds, 1-2 mm in diameter between the seeds; stamens free; [native of coastal peninsular FL and TX]. |
15 Corollas white, pink, or pink-purple; fruits flattened (wider than thick). |
17 Leaflets short- acuminate at the apex; calyx truncate- sinuate at its apex; branches not armed; [tropical s. FL] |
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