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Key N2: herbaceous dicots with mainly basal, simple leaves

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1 Inflorescence an involucrate 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  Asteraceae

1 Inflorescence, flower, and fruit structure various, but not with the combination of features as above (sometimes the flowers in a head subtended by bracts, e.g. Eryngium in APIACEAE, but then with other features differing, such as stamens 4, or green calyx present, or petals separate, or fruit a schizocarp of mericarps, etc.).

2 Basal leaves 2-lobed, pinnately lobed, or palmately lobed (not considering cordate, hastate, or auriculate leaf bases as “lobed”).

3 Basal leaves 2-lobed, hinged between the lobes, each lobe with stiff, marginal, eyelash-like bristles; [Coastal Plain of NC and SC, rarely planted and weakly naturalized elsewhere]  Dionaea muscipula

3 Basal leaves 3-many-lobed, palmately or pinnately; [collectively widespread].

4 Leaf lobing pinnate.

5 Gynoecium of separate pistils (each with a single carpel); fruit an aggregate  Geum

5 Gynoecium of a single pistil (with 2, rarely more, carpels); fruit simple.

6 Stamens many; sepals 2, petals 4; fresh plants with yellow, orange, or white milky juice  Papaveraceae

6 Stamens 4, 5, or 6; sepals 4 or 5; petals 4 or 5.

7 Petals 4, distinct; stamens 6  Brassicaceae

7 Petals 5, fused; stamens 2, 4, or 5.

8 Corolla radially symmetrical; stamens 5  Boraginaceae

8 Corolla 2-lipped, bilaterally symmetrical or asymmetrical; stamens 2 or 4.

9 Corolla lobes not twisted, the flower bilaterally symmetrical; stamens 2  Salvia

9 Corolla lobes twisted so as to make the flower asymmetrical; stamens 4  Pedicularis

4 Leaf lobing palmate.

10 Petiole attachment peltate.

11 Leaves < 10 cm in diameter  Hydrocotyle

11 Leaves > 15 cm in diameter  Berberidaceae

10 Petiole attachment marginal.

12 Ovary inferior.

13 Petals 4; stamens 8; fruit a capsule  Oenothera

13 Petals 5; stamens 5; fruit a schizocarp of 2 mericarps.

14 Fruit tuberculate; leaves 3-lobed  Eryngium prostratum

14 Fruit smooth; leaves with 5 or more lobes  Hydrocotyle

12 Ovary superior, or half-inferior by fusion of a hypanthium a part of the way up the ovary wall.

15 Gynoecium of separate pistils (each with a single carpel); fruit an aggregate.

16 Perianth of 5 green sepals and 5 colored petals.

17 Carpels partly fused, arrayed in a ring of 10-20  Malvaceae

17 Carpels separate, spiral, many  Ranunculaceae

16 Perianth of a single whorl of 3-12 petaloid sepals (the petals absent or small and rudimentary).

18 Leaves 2, the single flower terminal and associated with the upper leaf; fruit an aggregate of berries  Hydrastis canadensis

18 Leaves normally > 2, flowers not as above; fruit an aggregate of achenes, utricles, or follicles  Ranunculaceae

15 Gynoecium of a single pistil (with 1-5 carpels); fruit simple.

19 Hypanthium present, partially fused or not fused to the pistil; ovary partially inferior to superior  Saxifragaceae

19 Hypanthium absent; ovary superior.

20 Petals connate at base; leaves sharply toothed  Hydrophyllum

20 Petals distinct; leaves with rounded lobes or teeth.

21 Corolla radially symmetrical; petals 8-12; capsule fusiform, narrowed to both ends, > 5× as long as wide  Sanguinaria canadensis

21 Corolla bilaterally symmetrical; petals 5; capsule ovoid, < 2× as long as wide  Viola

2 Basal leaves not lobed, at most serrate or crenate (and sometimes also cordate, hastate, auriculate, or peltate at the base).

22 Basal leaves petiolate, the blade with a cordate, hastate, auriculate, or peltate base.

23 Leaf margins entire.

24 Inflorescence a terminal and/or axillary raceme, panicle, or cyme of many small flowers; fruit an achene; perianth uniseriate, of 0, 4-5, or 6 tepals.

25 Flowers unisexual; staminate flowers 4-5 tepals, pistillate flowers lacking a perianth  Spinacia oleracea

25 Flowers bisexual; flowers with 6 tepals  Polygonaceae

24 Inflorescence either a terminal spike, or a 1-7-flowered terminal cyme, or of a solitary axillary or terminal flower; fruit various; perianth biseriate (of differentiated sepals and petals (except uniseriate, of 3 fused sepals in ARISTOLOCHIACEAE).

26 Flowers bilaterally symmetrical; inflorescence a terminal spike (with > 20 flowers); petals 4, usually scarious, transparent; sepals 4, green; stamens 4  Plantago

26 Flowers radially symmetrical; inflorescence either of a solitary flower or of a 1-7-flowered terminal cyme; petals 5, 8-12, or 0; sepals 5 (green), 3 (brown), or 5-9 (yellow); stamens 5, 12, or many.

27 Gynoecium of separate pistils (each with a single carpel); fruit an aggregate of achenes or follicles; flowers bright yellow, either of 5-9 distinct petaloid sepals, or of 8-12 distinct petals subtended by 3-4 green distinct sepals  Ranunculaceae

27 Gynoecium either of a single pistil with 6 carpels or of a single pistil with 4 carpels or of 2 nearly separate carpels; fruit a simple capsule (or deeply 2-lobed); flowers white, brown, or greenish, either of 5 fused or distinct white petals and 5 fused or distinct green sepals, or of 3 fused brown or greenish petaloid sepals.

28 Flowers brown or green, of 3 fused brown or greenish petaloid sepals (and 0 petals); carpels 6; stamens 12; leaves 4-10 cm wide  Aristolochiaceae

28 Flowers white, of 5 white or whitish petals and 5 green sepals; carpels 2; stamens 5; leaves 1-12 (-15) cm wide

29 Petals separate; sepals separate; plant glabrous  Parnassia

29 Petals fused; sepals fused; carpels 2; plant pubescent.

30 {XXXX}; [common, widespread in our area]  Dichondra

30 {YYYY}; [rare exotic]  Lycianthes asarifolia

23 Leaf margins crenate, serrate, or incised.

31 Gynoecium of separate pistils (each with a single carpel); fruit an aggregate; perianth of 5 green sepals and 5 colored petals.

32 Carpels 10-20, partly fused, arrayed in a ring; petals white, pink, red, or purplish  Malvaceae

32 Carpels many, separate, spiral; petals yellow or white.

33 Flowers lacking a hypanthium; fruit an aggregate of achenes or aggregate of follicles  Ranunculaceae

33 Flowers with a hypanthium; fruit an aggregate of drupelets or aggregate of achenes  Rosaceae

31 Gynoecium of a single pistil (with 1-5 carpels); fruit simple.

34 Flowers bilaterally symmetrical; inflorescence of a solitary flower; fruit a 3-locular capsule  Viola

34 Flowers radially symmetrical; inflorescence an umbel (or composite of umbelliform units, or a terminal panicle.

35 Ovary superior; inflorescence a terminal panicle or terminal raceme.

36 Inflorescence a terminal raceme; perianth of 4 green sepals and 4 white petals; fruit a silique/silicle; fresh foliage in spring and summer with a strong garlic odor; larger leaves < 10 cm in diameter  Brassicaceae

36 Inflorescence a terminal panicle; perianth of 6 cream-colored petaloid sepals; fruit a winged achene; fresh foliage lacking a garlic odor; larger leaves typically > 30 cm in diameter  Rheum

35 Ovary inferior; inflorescence an umbel (or a composite of umbellate units); fruit a schizocarp of mericarps.

37 Petiole attachment peltate  Hydrocotyle

37 Petiole attachment marginal (the blade cleft to the petiole.

38 Leaf blades longer than wide, sharply V-cleft at the base and otherwise shallowly denticulate  Centella

38 Leaf blades as broad or broader than long, cleft at the base and also irregularly serrate or crenate around the margin  Hydrocotyle

22 Basal leaves petiolate or not, with a truncate, rounded, or cuneate leaf base.

39 Leaves tubular, with a sutured ventral flange, erect or reclining, adapted as a pitfall for insects (flat, phyllodial leaves sometimes present as well, common in the winter in some species, such as S. oreophila)  Sarracenia

39 Leaves flat, not sutured into a tubular shape.

40 Stem leaves opposite; perianth 5-merous, at least the corolla bilaterally symmetrical (barely so in VALERIANACEAE), or the parts curved so as to be asymmetrical (Pedicularis in OROBANCHACEAE); stamens 2, 3, or 4.

41 Ovary inferior; stamens 3  Valerianaceae

41 Ovary superior; stamens 2 or 4.

42 Corolla narrowly tubular, the five lobes flaring at nearly 90 degrees and nearly radially symmetrical  Buchnera

42 Corolla distinctly 2-lipped (with prominently large upper and lower corolla lobes) or hooded (the upper lip hood-like), distinctly bilaterally symmetrical, or the lobes twisted so as to make the corolla asymmetrical.

43 Corolla yellow, the upper lip often slightly to strongly maroon, hooded but the corolla lobes twisted so as to make the flower asymmetrical  Pedicularis

43 Corolla white, lavender, or blue, 2-lipped and bilaterally symmetrical.

44 Sepals separate to the base or nearly so, not forming a tube  Lindernia

44 Sepals connate for at least 0.3× their length to form a tube  Mazus

40 Stem leaves alternate; perianth radially symmetrical (less commonly bilaterally symmetrical); stamens 5, 6-8, 9, 10 (rarely 4).

45 Ovary inferior (or half-inferior in Samolus).

46 Perianth 4-merous; stamens 8  Oenothera

46 Perianth 5-merous; stamens 5.

47 Inflorescence an umbel; fruit a schizocarp of 2 mericarps  Apiaceae

47 Inflorescence an axillary or terminal raceme; fruit a capsule  Samolus

45 Ovary superior.

48 Pistils many, each with a single carpel; fruit an aggregate of achenes  Myosurus

48 Pistil 1, with 1-5 carpels; fruit simple (a legume, silique/silicle, capsule, utricle, or schizocarp of 4 nutlets).

49 Corolla bilaterally symmetrical (barely so in Limosella in SCROPHULARIACEAE); stamens 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10.

50 Stamens 6-8 or 10.

51 Petals separate; stamens 10  Micranthes

51 Petals fused; stamens 10 or 6-8.

52 Stamens 10, monadelphous  Fabaceae

52 Stamens 6-8, epipetalous  Polygalaceae

50 Stamens 2 or 4.

53 Stamens 2  Lentibulariaceae

53 Stamens 4.

54 [plants of coastal wetlands]  Limosella

54 [plants of uplands or inland seeps or fens]

55 Flowers (and subtending bracts) red or yellow  Castilleja

55 Flowers purple, blue, or lavender  Mazus

49 Corolla radially symmetrical; stamens 5, 10, 4-6, or 9.

56 Perianth of 6 tepals; stamens 4-6 or 9; carpels 3  Polygonaceae

56 Perianth of green sepals and more brightly colored petals; stamens 5 or 10; carpels 2, 3, 4, or 5.

57 Leaves covered with sticky, gland-tipped hairs (often red), as flypaper traps for insects  Drosera

57 Leaves lacking sticky gland-tipped hairs.

58 Fruit a schizocarp of 4 nutlets (ovary obviously 4-lobed in flower)  Boraginaceae

58 Fruit a capsule or silique/silicle (or utricle in Limonium in PLUMBAGINACEAE).

59 Inflorescence of a solitary, terminal flower; carpels 2-3 (-4).

60 Corolla with a long tube and flaring corolla lobes (united > ½ its length)  Jaborosa integrifolia

60 Corolla of separate petals or united only for a short length (< ¼ its length).

61 Leaves serrate  Shortia

61 Leaves entire  Parnassiaceae

59 Inflorescence of several to many flowers; carpels 5 (3 in Galax in DIAPENSIACEAE).

62 Inflorescence an umbel; petals recurved, pink to almost white  Primula

62 Inflorescence a raceme or panicle.

63 Fruit a silique/silicle; petals 4; stamens 6  Brassicaceae

63 Fruit either a capsule or a utricle; petals 5; stamens 5 or 10.

64 Inflorescence a somewhat to very diffuse panicle, with 3 or more orders of branching, not giving at all the impression that the overall inflorescence is made of racemose units.

Show caption*© Scott Ward                                                                                                                                           65 Leaves entire; stamens 5; [plants of tidal marshes]  Limonium

65 Leaves serrate or crenate; stamens 10; [plants of various habitats, especially rock outcrops and bottomland forests and streambanks, never in tidal marshes]  Micranthes

64 Inflorescence either a single terminal raceme (sometimes spike-like), or of 1 to several terminal and axillary racemes (these sometimes combined into a diffuse panicle, but one whose structure is clearly made up of many racemes).

66 Inflorescence of 1-several terminal and axillary racemes, the plant typically well-branched, especially from the base; stamens 5  Samolus

66 Inflorescence of a single, terminal raceme, the plant unbranched; stamens 10 (or 5, with 5 staminodes)

67 Inflorescence spike-like, the flowers many (> 40), barely pedicelled; capsule 3-locular  Galax urceolata

67 Inflorescence a raceme, the flowers fewer (< 20) and distinctly pedicelled; capsule 5-locular  Ericaceae

Key S2: herbaceous dicots with opposite, simple, and palmately lobed leaves on the stem {add [Humulus] CANNABINACEAE}

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