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Key to Anacardiaceae

Anacardiaceae

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1 Leaves simple
  2 Leaves oblong-lanceolate, > 4× as long as wide; leaf apices acuminate
  2 Leaves suborbicular, 1-1.5× as long as wide; leaf apices broadly rounded
1 Leaves compound.
    3 Leaves 3-foliolate.
      4 Terminal leaflet sessile; fruit red, glandular-pubescent; foliage and stems lacking contact poisons
      4 Terminal leaflet distinctly petiolulate; fruit white or greenish, glabrous or with scattered trichomes; foliage and stems containing contact poisons
    3 Leaves pinnately compound, with (3-) 5-41 leaflets (at least the larger and better-developed on a plant with 5 or more leaflets).
        5 Leaf rachis winged (with a flange of leaf tissue, often irregular in width and terminating at each leaflet attachment).
          6 Fruits glandular-pubescent; stamens 5; inflorescence a terminal panicle, the central axis upright as a continuation of the stem
          6 Fruits glabrous; stamens 10; inflorescence of axillary panicles, the central axis angled from the main stem
        5 Leaf rachis not winged.
             7 Inflorescence either a terminal panicle (the central axis stiff and upright) or of axillary or terminal clusters of short spikes
             7 Inflorescence of axillary or cauliflorous panicles, the central axis lax and often dangling.
               8 Leaves all or mostly even-pinnate (sometimes some leaves with an apparently terminal or obliquely subterminal leaflet)
               8 Leaves odd-pinnate.
                 9 Leaflets 19-41 per leaf, 2-5 cm long, 0.4-1 cm wide, averaging 5× as long as wide; leaflet margins often strongly serrate (to entire); [rare non-native in FL peninsula and s. TX]
                 9 Leaflets 3-25 per leaf, 2.5-20 cm long, 1.5-8 cm wide, averaging 1.2-3× as long as wide; leaflet margins entire or shallowly crenate.
                   10 Leaflet margin with obvious marginal vein; fruits 25-40 mm long; [rare non-native in s. FL]
                   10 Leaflet margin lacking marginal vein (though sometimes thickened and translucent); fruits 4-20 mm long; [collectively widespread].
                     11 Upper surface of leaflets dull, matte; inflorescences from the trunk (cauliflorous) or axillary; fruits 2-3 mm long; foliage and stems lacking contact poisons; [rare non-native in s. FL]
                     11 Upper surface of leaflets shiny, as if lacquered; inflorescences axillary near the summit of the stem; fruits 4-14 mm long; foliage and stems containing contact poisons.
                       12 Leaves 3-5 (-7)-foliolate; leaflet base rounded, subcordate, or cordate; leaflets 1.2-1.7× as long as wide; fruits orange or brown; [FL, Martin County southwards]
                       12 Leaves 7-13 (-15)-foliolate; leaflet base cuneate to rounded; leaflets 2-2.5× as long as wide; fruits white or yellowish; [widespread (though irregular) in our region, in FL south to Highlands County]

Key F1: Key to Plantae

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1 Leaves 1- or 2-foliolate, if 1-foliolate then deeply notched and appearing bilobed (Bauhinia, which is also keyed in Key G).
  2 Leaves 1-foliolate (bilobed)
  2 Leaves 2-foliolate
    3 Leaflets elliptic to lanceolate, acute at the apex; petals white, not clawed; fruit a pinkish-red berry, mucilagenous or dry at maturity; plants shrubs
    3 Leaves cordate and deeply cleft (appearing 2-foliolate) or if subtly 2-foliolate, the lobes rounded at the ends; petals pink, clawed; fruit an elongated legume; plants shrubs or sometimes vines
1 Leaves 3-, 5-, to many-foliolate.
      4 Plant a liana, climbing by twining, by tendrils, or by adventitious roots.
        5 Leaves untoothed and unlobed; fruit a legume
        5 Leaves coarsely toothed or lobed; fruit a berry (except legume in Pueraria)
          6 Leaflets obovate or broadly elliptic (broadest at or above the middle), the teeth or lobes soley or primarily in the apical half of the leaf; plant climbing by tendrils; fruit a blue to black berry.
             7 Plants with leaves trifoliolate only, the blades fleshy, > 1 mm thick when fresh, the leaftlets ovate to oblong; inflorescence axillary (accompanying leaves, not opposing them); [tribe Cayratieae]
             7 Plants often with a mix of well-developed trifoliate leaves and (less-developed) tri-lobed, simple leaves (the lobes or leaflets broadly ovate to ovate-reniform), these herbaceous, the blades thin; inflorescence leaf-opposed; [tribe Cisseae]
          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; fruit a legume (Pueraria) or whitish berry (Toxicodendron).
               8 Plant climbing by the stem twining; [plant not actually woody, but so robust as to often be assumed to be so]
               8 Plant climbing by dense, reddish adventitious roots attaching the stem to tree trunks or rock outcrops
      4 Plant a shrub or small tree (sometimes scrambling or occasionally high-climbing with the support of other vegetation, but lacking the specialized climbing structures listed above, e.g., Akebia).
                 9 Stems armed with small prickles or stout thorns.
                   10 Stems with stout thorns at the nodes; fruit a hesperidium (orange-like, but densely hairy)
                   10 Stems with many small prickles along the internodes (directly below the nodes; sometimes inconspicuous on the vegetative stems of Erythrina); fruit various: either a legume, berry, an aggregate of drupelets, or a hip.
                     11 Leaflets with 2 rounded lateral lobes near the base, otherwise entire; fruit a legume; corolla red
                     11 Leaflet bases cuneate to rounded, unlobed (sometimes cleft), but lacking 2 rounded, lateral lobes at their bases; fruit either a drupe (Eleutherococcus), berry (Triphasia), OR a hip or aggregate of drupelets (ROSACEAE); corolla variously colored.
                       12 Flowers 3-merous (sometimes with 4 or rarely with 5 petals); fruit a glabrous berry, reddish when ripened; [uncommon non-native, s. FL]
                       12 Flowers 4- or 5-merous (with 4 or 5 petals); fruit a drupe, an aggregate of drupes, or a hip; [collectively widespread natives and non-natives, including s. FL].
                          13 Inflorescence a compound umbel, notably rounded in shape; leaves 3-5-foliolate (often trifoliolate, sometimes palmately compound); fruit a drupe; [uncommon non-native, n. FL]
                          13 Inflorescence a panicle, not notably rounded in shape; leaves 3 or more foliolate; fruit an aggregate of drupelets or a hip; [natives and non-natives; widespread]
                 9 Stems unarmed.
                            14 Leaflets serrulate, crenulate, serrate, with a few coarse and jagged teeth (spine-tipped or not), or shallowly lobed (Erythrina).
                              15 Leaflets serrulate or crenulate (crenulate teeth minute in Murraya, look closely).
                                16 Leaflets 3-11 (usually 5+ per leaf, also keyed in F5); fruit a fleshy berry, red to dark orange at maturity; [uncommon non-native, s. FL]
                                16 Leaflets usually 3 (leaves typically trifoliolate); fruit a conspicuously winged samara (dry at maturity), greenish-brown at maturity; [natives, c. FL northward and westward]
                              15 Leaflets serrate, with a few coarse and jagged teeth (spine-tipped or not), or shallowly lobed (Erythrina).
                                  17 Leaflets with 2 prominent, rounded lobes near the base; fruit a legume; flowers > 3 cm long, corollas bilaterally symmetrical, red, in a terminal raceme
                                  17 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
                                    18 Leaflets with a few spine-tipped teeth; fruit a red berry; [TX westwards]
                                    18 Leaflets not spine-tipped; fruit a red or tan drupe; [collectively widespread]
                            14 Leaflets entire and unlobed.
                                       19 Terminal leaflet sessile.
                                         20 Leaflets < 2 cm long; stems and branches dark green
                                         20 Leaflets 2-5 cm long (Hypelate) or 5-15 cm long (Ptelea); stems and branches tan to brown
                                           21 Leaflets obovate to oblanceolate, the apices usually rounded; leaves 2-5 cm long, often congested at branch tips; fruit a fleshy drupe, maroon or black-colored when ripened; flowers arranged in panicles; [s. FL only in our area]
                                           21 Leaflets usually ovate, the apices acute or acuminate; leaves 5-15 cm long, usually spaced throughout the stems, rarely congested at leaf tips; fruit a samara, brown when ripened; flowers arranged in cymes; [c. FL northward, widespread]
                                       19 Terminal leaflet with a petiolule.
                                             22 Fruit a 3-angled capsule, valvate; leaves with a strong scent of horseradish
                                             22 Fruit a berry, a berry-like drupe, or a legume (not valvate but often dehiscent); leaves lacking a strong scent of horseradish.
                                               23 Petals white, small (ca. 4 mm long); fruit a pinkish-red berry, mucilagenous or dry at maturity
                                               23 Petals small to large, variously colored (including white); fruit a legume or if berry like, then white at maturity, often somewhat laterally flattened, and plants vining, rhizomatous shrubs (Toxicodendron).
                                                 24 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; fruit a legume
                                                 24 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); fruit a white, berry-like drupe (globose or often laterally somewhat flattened).