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Key G2: woody plants with alternate, simple, palmately lobed leaves

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1 Lianas.
  2 Lianas climbing by adventitious roots
  2 Lianas climbing by twining or by tendrils.
    3 Lianas climbing by twining
    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.
          6 Trees.
             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)
          6 Shrubs.
                       12 Leaf lobe margins entire (or undulate to sublobed at the tip).
                          13 Leaves bilobed; fruit a legume
                          13 Leaves palmate, usually with at least 3-7 lobes; fruit a capsule
                       12 Leaf lobe margins serrate.
                            14 Leaves glabrous
                            14 Leaves pubescent (slightly or strongly).
                              15 Pubescence of simple hairs; plants armed or not with nodal spines
                                16 Leaves 10-30 cm long and wide; fruit a berry; inflorescence of solitary to a few flowers, or a raceme
                                16 Leaves 2-10 cm long and wide; fruit an aggregate of drupelets; inflorescence a cyme
                              15 Pubescence of stellate hairs; plants unarmed.
                                  17 Leaves > 30 cm wide

Key G5: shrubs and subshrubs with alternate, simple, unlobed, toothed leaves

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1 Subshrubs or dwarf shrubs, aboveground stems creeping or erect, < 15 cm tall; leaves evergreen.
  2 Leaves 1.5-3 cm wide, coarsely toothed; flowers lacking sepals and petals; [exotic species, sparingly naturalized or spreading in suburban situations]
  2 Leaves < 1.5 cm wide, finely toothed or entire; flowers with sepals and petals; [native species, collectively widespread and common].
    3 Leaves fleshy, terete in ×-section; petals 5, bright pink
    3 Leaves flat, not fleshy; petals white or pale pink.
      4 Leaves < 2.5 mm wide; corolla with petals distinct; plant creeping
      4 Leaves > 5 mm wide; corolla with petals fused (distinct in Chimaphila); plant creeping or erect
1 Shrubs, aboveground stems erect, > 30 cm tall; leaves evergreen or deciduous.
        5 Inflorescence an involucrate (composite) 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
        5 Inflorescence, flower, and fruit structure various, but not with the combination of features as above.
          6 Leaves evergreen. {add to 6a Ardisia in PRIMULACEAE, Rhaphiolepis in ROSACEAE, Camellia in THEACEAE, Ochna in OCHNACEAE}
             7 Leaves glandular-punctate on one or both surfaces with golden-yellow glands; flowers unisexual, lacking a perianth (arranged in axillary catkins); fruit a pale gray, waxy drupe with a single seed
             7 Leaves not glandular punctate; flowers bisexual or unisexual, with a white, pink, or yellow perianth; fruit various: a red, blue, or black drupe, a berry with several seeds, or a capsule.
               8 Petals connate, flowers urceolate (ERICACEAE) or rotate, white to pale pink; flowers bisexual; fruit a drupe (Ehretia in EHRETIACEAE), OR a capsule or berry (ERICACEAE)
                 9 Flowers rotate, fragrant, the petals white, arranged primarily in terminal cymes; fruit an orange or yellow drupe, each bearing 2 hemispheric nutlets (these each also composed of 2 seeds, thus the fruit bearing 4 seeds)
                 9 Flowers urceolate, fragrant or not, the petals white to pale pink, variously arranged in terminal or axillary inflorescences (occasionally solitary in axils); fruit either a capsule or a red, blue, or black berry
               8 Petals distinct, yellow or white; flowers unisexual or bisexual; fruit either a black or red drupe with several pyrenes, a red berry with several seeds, or red or black pomes.
                   10 Plants with nodal, simple or tripartite thorns; flowers bisexual, with a yellow perianth; fruit a red berry with several seeds
                   10 Plants lacking thorns; flowers unisexual or bisexual, with a white perianth (yellow or red in Ochna); fruit either a black or red drupe with several pyrenes or a red or black pome.
                     11 Petals yellow, clawed; sepals red and forming a persistent red receptacle (torus) bearing numerous blackened drupes.
                     11 Petals white, not clawed; sepals not bright red nor persistent, the fruit a drupe or pome.
                       12 Flowers unisexual; fruit a black or red drupe with several pyrenes
                       12 Flowers bisexual; fruit a red or black pome
          6 Leaves deciduous {add [Fagaceae]}.
                          13 Plants with nodal, simple or tripartite thorns; leaf teeth spinulose
                          13 Plants lacking thorns; leaf teeth acute, blunt, rounded, or callus-tipped, but not spinulose.
                            14 Leaf blade bases conspicuously oblique-cordate or angled-truncate.
                              15 Leaves crenate-wavy, with 1-2 teeth per cm of leaf margin; pubescence of leaves and stems stellate
                              15 Leaves crenate or serrate, but usually not wavy, pubescence of leaves and stems simple {add to key; verify}
                            14 Leaves crenulate, serrate or serrulate, with >2 teeth per cm of leaf margin; leaves cuneate, rounded, or subcordate at base, not oblique; pubescence of leaves and stems absent or simple.
                                16 Leaves prominently 3-veined from the base.
                                  17 Ovary 5-locular; stamens many or 5, fused or separate; fruit a 5-valved capsule or of 5 mericarps; flowers yellow or pink, or white with a pink blaze
                                  17 Ovary 3-locular; stamens 5, separate; fruit a 3-valved capsule or drupe; flowers white or pale green
                                16 Leaves pinnately veined.
                                    18 Flowers in catkins; perianth absent or very small; fruit a 1-seeded nut, samara, or waxy drupe (capsule in Salix in SALICACEAE).
                                       19 Leaves > 4 cm wide, lacking punctate glands; fruit a 1-seeded nut or samara
                                       19 Leaves < 3 cm wide, either punctate-glandular on one or both surfaces or lacking punctate glands; fruit a 1-seeded waxy drupe or a capsule.
                                         20 Leaves punctate-glandular on one or both surfaces; fruit a 1-seeded waxy drupe.
                                         20 Leaves lacking punctate glands; fruit a capsule.
                                    18 Flowers arrayed variously, but not in catkins; perianth present, conspicuous; fruit a 1-many-seeded capsule, pome, berry, or follicle.
                                           21 Ovary inferior; fruit fleshy and indehiscent, a berry or pome.
                                             22 Fruit a berry; leaves lacking stipules
                                             22 Fruit a pome; leaves usually prominently stipular
                                           21 Ovary superior; fruit either dry and dehiscent, a capsule or an aggregate of follicles or achenes, or fleshy and indehiscent, a drupe with 4-8 pyrenes.
                                               23 Flower apocarpous; fruit an aggregate of follicles or achenes
                                               23 Flower syncarpous; fruit either a capsule or a fleshy drupe.
                                                 24 Ovary 1-carpellate; fruit a 1-seeded drupe
                                                 24 Ovary 2-8-carpellate; fruit either a capsule or a drupe with 4-8 pyrenes
                                                    25 Ovary 2-8-locular; fruit fleshy and indehiscent, a drupe with 2-8 pyrenes; flowers mostly functionally unisexual (or sometimes bisexual in RHAMNACEAE).
                                                      26 Petals connate at the base; stamens alternate to the petals and opposite to the sepals; fruit 4-8-locular, with 4-8 pyrenes
                                                      26 Petals separate (or absent in Rhamnus alnifolia); stamens opposite to the petals (when present) and alternate to the sepals; fruit 2-4-locular, with 2-4 pyrenes
                                                    25 Ovary 2-3- or 5-locular; fruit dry and dehiscent, a capsule; flowers bisexual (except Stillingia in EUPHORBIACEAE).
                                                        27 Ovary and capsule 5-locular; stamens 10-many.
                                                          28 Stamens 10; corolla urceolate, sympetalous
                                                          28 Stamens many; corolla spreading, apopetalous
                                                        27 Ovary and capsule 2-3-locular; stamens 2, 5, or 10.
                                                            29 Leaves > 5× as long as wide; stamens 2; ovary and capsule 3-locular; [plants of the Coastal Plain of SC, GA, AL, and FL]
                                                            29 Leaves < 3× as long as wide; stamens 5 or 10; ovary and capsule 2-3-locular; [plants collectively widespread].
                                                              30 Stamens 5; ovary and capsule 2-locular; leaves elliptic (widest near the middle), the teeth fine (usually > 5 points per cm of margin), and along much of the margin; inflorescence a terminal raceme; hairs of the lower leaf surface simple, erect
                                                              30 Stamens 10; ovary and capsule 3-locular; leaves obovate (widest towards the apex), the teeth obscure to coarse (usually < 4 points per cm of margin), and primarily in the upper half of the leaf; inflorescence a terminal or axillary raceme or cyme; hairs of the lower leaf surface either simple and appressed, or stellate.
                                                                 31 Leaf margins regularly and evenly serrate in the upper half of the leaf (usually nearly entire towards the base); inflorescence an elongate, many flowered (>30) raceme borne at the end of branchlets of the season; corolla of separate petals, the stamens separate; hairs of the lower leaf surface simple and appressed
                                                                 31 Leaf margins wavy or irregularly dentate, mainly in the upper half of the leaf; inflorescence a few flowered (<20) axillary raceme, cyme, or cluster; corolla fused basally into a tube, the stamens adnate to the tube; hairs of the lower leaf surface stellate

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
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]
    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
        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
          6 Stamens 4, 5, or 6; sepals 4 or 5; petals 4 or 5.
             7 Petals 4, distinct; stamens 6
             7 Petals 5, fused; stamens 2, 4, or 5.
               8 Corolla radially symmetrical; stamens 5
               8 Corolla 2-lipped, bilaterally symmetrical or asymmetrical; stamens 2 or 4.
                 9 Corolla lobes not twisted, the flower bilaterally symmetrical; stamens 2
                 9 Corolla lobes twisted so as to make the flower asymmetrical; stamens 4
      4 Leaf lobing palmate.
                   10 Petiole attachment peltate.
                     11 Leaves < 10 cm in diameter
                     11 Leaves > 15 cm in diameter
                   10 Petiole attachment marginal.
                       12 Ovary inferior.
                          13 Petals 4; stamens 8; fruit a capsule
                          13 Petals 5; stamens 5; fruit a schizocarp of 2 mericarps.
                            14 Fruit tuberculate; leaves 3-lobed
                            14 Fruit smooth; leaves with 5 or more lobes
                       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
                                  17 Carpels separate, spiral, many
                                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
                                    18 Leaves normally > 2, flowers not as above; fruit an aggregate of achenes, utricles, or follicles
                              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
                                       19 Hypanthium absent; ovary superior.
                                         20 Petals connate at base; leaves sharply toothed
                                         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
                                           21 Corolla bilaterally symmetrical; petals 5; capsule ovoid, < 2× as long as wide
  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
                                                    25 Flowers bisexual; flowers with 6 tepals
                                                 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
                                                      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
                                                        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
                                                          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
                                                            29 Petals fused (at least basally in Dichondra); sepals fused; carpels 2; plant pubescent.
                                                              30 Fruit a deeply 2-lobed capsule; sepals longer or ca. as long as petals; petals not undulate, fused at their bases or distal ½, the anthers maroon or brown-colored; [common, widespread in our area]
                                                              30 Fruit a fleshy berry; sepals shorter than the petals; petals undulate, fused, the anthers yellow; [rare exotic]
                                               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 (or of 2 or 4 (-5) white-colored tepals in Begonia).
                                                                   32 Flowers typically with 2 or 4 (-5) white-colored tepals; leaf bases conspicuously oblique (sometimes variegated); fruit unequally or subequally 3-winged capsules; [ornamental waifs or uncommon non-natives]
                                                                   32 Flowers with 5 green sepals and 5 colored petals (not merged into tepals); leaf bases oblique or not; fruit various but not 3-winged capsules; [natives and non-natives].
                                                                     33 Carpels 10-20, partly fused, arrayed in a ring; petals white, pink, red, or purplish
                                                                     33 Carpels many, separate, spiral; petals yellow or white.
                                                                       34 Flowers lacking a hypanthium; fruit an aggregate of achenes or aggregate of follicles
                                                                       34 Flowers with a hypanthium; fruit an aggregate of drupelets or aggregate of achenes
                                                                 31 Gynoecium of a single pistil (with 1-5 carpels); fruit simple.
                                                                         35 Flowers bilaterally symmetrical; inflorescence of a solitary flower; fruit a 3-locular capsule
                                                                         35 Flowers radially symmetrical; inflorescence an umbel (or composite of umbelliform units, or a terminal panicle.
                                                                           36 Ovary superior; inflorescence a terminal panicle or terminal raceme.
                                                                              37 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
                                                                              37 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
                                                                           36 Ovary inferior; inflorescence an umbel (or a composite of umbellate units); fruit a schizocarp of mericarps.
                                                                                38 Petiole attachment peltate
                                                                                38 Petiole attachment marginal (the blade cleft to the petiole.
                                                                                  39 Leaf blades longer than wide, sharply V-cleft at the base and otherwise shallowly denticulate
                                                                                  39 Leaf blades as broad or broader than long, cleft at the base and also irregularly serrate or crenate around the margin
                                             22 Basal leaves petiolate or not, with a truncate, rounded, or cuneate leaf base.
                                                                                    40 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)
                                                                                    40 Leaves flat, not sutured into a tubular shape.
                                                                                      41 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.
                                                                                        42 Ovary inferior; stamens 3
                                                                                        42 Ovary superior; stamens 2 or 4.
                                                                                           43 Corolla narrowly tubular, the five lobes flaring at nearly 90 degrees and nearly radially symmetrical
                                                                                           43 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.
                                                                                             44 Corolla yellow, the upper lip often slightly to strongly maroon, hooded but the corolla lobes twisted so as to make the flower asymmetrical
                                                                                             44 Corolla white, lavender, or blue, 2-lipped and bilaterally symmetrical.
                                                                                               45 Sepals separate to the base or nearly so, not forming a tube
                                                                                               45 Sepals connate for at least 0.3× their length to form a tube
                                                                                      41 Stem leaves alternate; perianth radially symmetrical (less commonly bilaterally symmetrical); stamens 5, 6-8, 9, 10 (rarely 4).
                                                                                                 46 Ovary inferior (or half-inferior in Samolus).
                                                                                                   47 Perianth 4-merous; stamens 8
                                                                                                   47 Perianth 5-merous; stamens 5.
                                                                                                     48 Inflorescence an umbel; fruit a schizocarp of 2 mericarps
                                                                                                     48 Inflorescence an axillary or terminal raceme; fruit a capsule
                                                                                                 46 Ovary superior.
                                                                                                        49 Pistils many, each with a single carpel; fruit an aggregate of achenes
                                                                                                        49 Pistil 1, with 1-5 carpels; fruit simple (a legume, silique/silicle, capsule, utricle, or schizocarp of 4 nutlets).
                                                                                                          50 Corolla bilaterally symmetrical (barely so in Limosella in SCROPHULARIACEAE); stamens 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10.
                                                                                                            51 Stamens 6-8 or 10.
                                                                                                              52 Petals separate; stamens 10
                                                                                                              52 Petals fused; stamens 10 or 6-8.
                                                                                                                53 Stamens 10, monadelphous
                                                                                                                53 Stamens 6-8, epipetalous
                                                                                                            51 Stamens 2 or 4.
                                                                                                                  54 Stamens 2
                                                                                                                  54 Stamens 4.
                                                                                                                     55 [plants of coastal wetlands]
                                                                                                                     55 [plants of uplands or inland seeps or fens]
                                                                                                                       56 Flowers (and subtending bracts) red or yellow
                                                                                                                       56 Flowers purple, blue, or lavender
                                                                                                          50 Corolla radially symmetrical; stamens 5, 10, 4-6, or 9.
                                                                                                                         57 Perianth of 6 tepals; stamens 4-6 or 9; carpels 3
                                                                                                                         57 Perianth of green sepals and more brightly colored petals; stamens 5 or 10; carpels 2, 3, 4, or 5.
                                                                                                                           58 Leaves covered with sticky, gland-tipped hairs (often red), as flypaper traps for insects
                                                                                                                           58 Leaves lacking sticky gland-tipped hairs.
                                                                                                                             59 Fruit a schizocarp of 4 nutlets (ovary obviously 4-lobed in flower)
                                                                                                                             59 Fruit a capsule or silique/silicle (or utricle in Limonium in PLUMBAGINACEAE).
                                                                                                                               60 Inflorescence of a solitary, terminal flower; carpels 2-3 (-4).
                                                                                                                                  61 Corolla with a long tube and flaring corolla lobes (united > ½ its length)
                                                                                                                                  61 Corolla of separate petals or united only for a short length (< ¼ its length).
                                                                                                                                    62 Leaves serrate
                                                                                                                                    62 Leaves entire
                                                                                                                               60 Inflorescence of several to many flowers; carpels 5 (3 in Galax in DIAPENSIACEAE).
                                                                                                                                      63 Inflorescence an umbel; petals recurved, pink to almost white
                                                                                                                                      63 Inflorescence a raceme or panicle.
                                                                                                                                        64 Fruit a silique/silicle; petals 4; stamens 6
                                                                                                                                        64 Fruit either a capsule or a utricle; petals 5; stamens 5 or 10.
                                                                                                                                          65 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.
image of plant
Show caption*© Scott Ward
                                                                                                                                            66 Leaves entire; stamens 5; [plants of tidal marshes]
                                                                                                                                            66 Leaves serrate or crenate; stamens 10; [plants of various habitats, especially rock outcrops and bottomland forests and streambanks, never in tidal marshes]
                                                                                                                                          65 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).
                                                                                                                                               67 Inflorescence of 1-several terminal and axillary racemes, the plant typically well-branched, especially from the base; stamens 5
                                                                                                                                               67 Inflorescence of a single, terminal raceme, the plant unbranched; stamens 10 (or 5, with 5 staminodes)
                                                                                                                                                 68 Inflorescence spike-like, the flowers many (> 40), barely pedicelled; capsule 3-locular
                                                                                                                                                 68 Inflorescence a raceme, the flowers fewer (< 20) and distinctly pedicelled; capsule 5-locular

Key P1: herbaceous dicots with alternate, simple, and unlobed leaves on the stem

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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
1 Inflorescence, flower, and fruit structure various, but not with the combination of features as above (sometimes the flowers in a head, e.g. Eryngium in APIACEAE, but then with other features differing, such as stamens 4, or green calyx present, or fruit a schizocarp of mericarps, etc.).
  2 Perianth uniseriate (represented only by undifferentiated tepals or sepals; look at the front and back of the flowers for two layers) or completely absent; flowers usually unisexual, less commonly bisexual).
    3 Inflorescence a cyathium, consisting of a single pistillate flower (reduced to a single 3-carpellate pistil) and 2 or more staminate flowers (each reduced to 1 stamen), borne in a cup-like involucre, the involucre bearing pointed or rounded glands, these sometimes brightly colored and petaloid, mimicking an individual flower (the cyathia then secondarily arranged in terminal cymes, or solitary and axillary, etc.); fresh plants with milky juice; fruit a 3-lobed, 3-locular capsule
    3 Inflorescence not a cyathium (and staminate or bisexual flowers with > 1 stamen; fresh plants lacking milky juice (except Stillingia in EUPHORBIACEAE); fruit various, not as above.
      4 Leaf margins toothed in some manner (serrate, dentate, crenate, etc.)
        5 Leaf teeth rounded to subacute, resembling shallow lobes, irregular, few (mostly < 6 per leaf side).
          6 Fruit a single-seeded achene or utricle; [plants of various disturbed or saline, usually sunny habitats]
          6 Fruit a 3-lobed, circumscissilely dehiscent capsule; [plants native of rich moist shaded forests or exotics in suburban woodlands]
        5 Leaf teeth sharp to crenate, not lobe-like, regular, many (mostly > 10 per leaf side).
             7 Leaf bases cuneate (or strongly oblique in Begonia, with one leaf base usually being cuneate, the other variously rounded or cordate).
               8 Flowers typically with 2 or 4 (-5) showy, white-colored tepals; leaves sometimes variegated; fruit unequally or subequally 3-winged capsules; [ornamental waifs or uncommon non-natives]
               8 Flowers cyathia, not merely bearing showy tepals; leaf not variegated but sometimes bearing darkened red or black splotches; fruit capsules, but these not conspicuously winged; [natives and non-natives, usually not ornamental]
             7 Leaf bases cordate to rounded.
                 9 Styles 3; fruit a 3-lobed, 3-carpellate capsule (1 carpel sometimes aborting); inflorescence either a terminal or leaf opposed raceme, or a dense axillary condensed cyme with conspicuous toothed bracts subtending the flowers
                 9 Styles 1 or 2; fruit either an achene or a multiple of achenes; inflorescence either an axillary dense cyme (almost a head), or an axillary spike with glomerules, or a terminal or axillary panicle.
                   10 Styles 2; inflorescence a dense axillary cyme (almost a head); fruit a multiple of achenes; plant lacking stinging hairs; [exotic plant of weedy situations]
                   10 Style 1; inflorescence an axillary spikes with glomerules, or a terminal or axillary panicle; plant either with stinging hairs or not; [plant a rare exotic (Boehmeria nivea) or a native of moist forests (Boehmeria cylindrica, Laportea)]
      4 Leaf margins entire.
                     11 Ovary inferior (flowers epigynous, the ovary sitting below the perianth and androecium) or half-inferior (perigynous, the ovary sitting level with the remaining floral parts).
                       12 Leaf base cordate; calyx 3-lobed, fused into a bilaterally symmetrical, curved brown or yellowish tube; fruit a capsule
                       12 Leaf base cuneate, rounded, or truncate; calyx of 3-4-5 distinct sepals, radially symmetrical, white or yellow; fruit a dry, nutlike drupe or an achene.
                          13 Leaves subsessile or very short petiolate, elliptic or narrowly elliptic, broadest near the middle; [native]
                          13 Leaves distinctly petiolate, rhombic, widest near the base; [rarely naturalized exotics].
                            14 Inflorescence of a single axillary flower
                            14 Inflorescence terminal, spikelike
                     11 Ovary superior (flowers hypogynous, the ovary sitting above the perianth and androecium).
                              15 Inflorescence a leaf-opposed spike or raceme, the inflorescence arising opposite of stem leaves (except Saururus, whose spikelike racemes are leaf-opposed and/or terminal); flowers visually white from white petaloid sepals, white bracts, or white stamens.
                                16 Sepals present, 4 or 5; petaloid, white; carpels 1 to many (-12); stamens 4 to many (-25); fruit a berry or an apically 2-lobed achene (as in Petiveria); leaf bases cuneate or rounded (but not cordate); [Eudicots].
                                  17 Sepals 4; carpels 1; fruit subglobose berries or apically lobed achenes
                                  17 Sepals 5; carpels 5-12, distinct; fruit an oblate berry
                                16 Sepals absent; carpels 3-4; stamens 2-6 (-8); fruit a capsule, a 1-seeded drupe, or a schizocarp of 3-4 mericarps; leaf bases cordate or subcordate; [Basal Angiosperms].
                                    18 Fruit a 1-seeded drupe; stamens 2; plants terrestrial or epiphytic
                                    18 Fruit a capsule or schizocarp with 3-4 mericarps; stamens 3 or 6-8; plants terrestrial
                              15 Inflorescence not leaf opposed, instead arising with stem leaves (axillary) or terminal, the inflorescence not spikes nor racemes, instead either simpler (single axillary or glomerules of flowers) or more complexly branched (terminal or axilary panicles or terminal complex cymes); flowers white, reddish, scarious, or greenish.
                                       19 Stipules tubular, sheathing (= ocreae); flowers subtended by tubular, sheathing bracteoles (= ocreolae); nodes usually prominently swollen; perianth usually of 5-6 white to pink tepals
                                       19 Stipules not tubular or sheathing; flowers not subtended by ocreolae; nodes not swollen; perianth absent or of 3-5 sepals.
                                         20 Inflorescence a terminal involucrate cluster; flowers bisexual; stamens 9
                                         20 Inflorescence axillary, or a terminal panicle or raceme that is not involucrate; stamens 3-6.
                                           21 Ovary 3-locular; styles 3, each bifid; fruit a capsule, with 6 seeds
                                           21 Ovary 1-locular; styles 1-3, not bifid; fruit a utricle or achene (1-seeded).
                                             22 Sepals petaloid, pink and relatively conspicuous (although the sepals ca. 1-3 mm in length); plants prostrate to somewhat ascending annuals; leaves opposite or nearly whorled; achenes muricate
                                             22 Sepals not petaloid, inconspicuous, green or greyish in color; plants prostrate or erect, annual or perennial; leaves alternate OR either alternate or opposite (Amaranthaceae); achenes variously textured (smooth or textured, sometimes reticulate or verrucose, but rarely muricate).
                                               23 Styles 1, stigma 1; flowers unisexual
                                               23 Styles 1-3, if style 1, then stigmas 3; flowers bisexual or unisexual.
                                                 24 Tepals acute, scarious
                                                 24 Tepals usually blunt, herbaceous
  2 Perianth biseriate (represented by differentiated whorls of sepals and petals, the sepals usually green or drab in color, the petals often brightly colored); flowers nearly always bisexual (there are exceptions).
                                                    25 Ovary inferior (epigynous) or half-inferior (perigynous).
                                                      26 Petals connate (at least basally, often the lower half of corolla).
                                                        27 Inflorescence a leaf-opposed, dense, cylindrical spike
                                                        27 Inflorescence not a dense, leaf-opposed spike, instead a terminal head or variously axillary or terminal (the flowers solitary or not, but not in a dense spike).
                                                          28 Flowers yellow; stamens numerous (15+), monomorphic or heteromorphic (inner and outer of differing length), conspicuously exerted from the flowers, often surpassing the ovary; leaves basally lobed or unlobed (often a mix in M. floridana and M. oligosperma)
                                                          28 Flowers blue or white; stamens fewer (usually < 10), monomorphic, if exerted, the ovary usually still apparent; leaves unlobed.
                                                            29 Leaves toothed; flowers blue to white
                                                            29 Leaves entire; flowers white
                                                      26 Petals distinct.
                                                              30 Petals 5; stamens 5; inflorescence a head; fruit a schizocarp of 2 mericarps
                                                              30 Petals 4 7; stamens 6 or more; inflorescence various, not a head; fruit a capsule.
                                                                 31 Petals 4-7; stamens 1× or 2× as many as the petals, 4-7, 8, 10, 12, or14; leaves herbaceous in texture
                                                                 31 Petals 5 (or sometimes doubled in horticultural forms); stamens 6-40 (or more); leaves fleshy in texture
                                                    25 Ovary superior (hypogynous).
                                                                   32 Corolla bilaterally symmetrical (zygomorphic), petals connate, at least basally (except distinct in VIOLACEAE); fruit a capsule or legume (the capsule conspicuously spiny in Krameria).
                                                                     33 Petals distinct, 5; carpels 3; fruit a 3-loculed capsule
                                                                     33 Petals connate (at least basally), 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8; carpels 1, 2, 4, 5, or 6 (rarely 3 in Reseda in RESEDACEAE); fruit a legume or 1-, 2-, or 5-loculed capsule (except a 1-seeded indehiscent pod in Krameria in KRAMERIACEAE).
                                                                       34 Stamens 6-10 (-25), more than the number (4 or 5) of petals and the number (4 or 5) of the sepals; fruit a legume or a 1-6-carpellate capsule.
                                                                         35 Stamens fused, monadelphous or diadelphous.
                                                                           36 Stamens 10, monadelphous or diadelphous; fruit a legume
                                                                           36 Stamens 6-8, monadelphous; fruit a capsule
                                                                         35 Stamens distinct.
                                                                              37 Carpel 1; fruit a legume
                                                                              37 Carpels 3-6; fruit a capsule
                                                                       34 Stamens 4-5, less than or the same as the number (5) of the petals; fruit a 2-5-carpellate capsule.
                                                                                38 Pistil 5-carpellate; capsule 5-locular, explosively dehiscent; inflorescence of axillary, small clusters of flowers
                                                                                38 Pistil 2-carpellate; capsule 2 locular, opening gradually or not at all; inflorescence a terminal spike, raceme or panicle (or solitary, axillary flowers in Chaenorrhinum in PLANTAGINACEAE and Krameria in KRAMERIACEAE).
                                                                                  39 Fruit 1-seeded, indehiscent; sepals petaloid, red-purple; petals dimorphic, the upper 3 long-clawed, the lower 2 small, thickened, and glandlike; fruit a spiny pod
                                                                                  39 Fruit > 2-seeded, dehiscent; sepals sepaloid, green; petals not dimorphic.
                                                                                    40 Stamens 5; corolla not spurred; capsule septicidal; pubescence of the stem and leaves either gland-tipped or dendritically branched
                                                                                    40 Stamens 4; corolla with a distinct spur or sac at the base between the the 2 lower calyx lobes (except not spurred in Digitalis and Schwalbea); capsule loculicidal (only at the summit in Antirrhinum and Chaenorrhinum, and septicidal in Schwalbea); pubescence of the stem and leaves neither gland-tipped (except in Antirrhinum and Chaenorrhinum) nor dendritically branched.
                                                                                      41 Capsule septicidal; corolla not spurred
                                                                                      41 Capsule loculicidal; corolla spurred (except Digitalis)
                                                                   32 Corolla radially symmetrical (actinomorphic), petals connate or distinct; fruit various (including capsules).
                                                                                        42 Plants herbaceous vines, fleshy and mucilaginous, the leaves variously orbicular, ovate, cordate or sometimes elliptic; fruit utricles (small sacs surrounding an achene), partly to completely enclosed in the persistent, dry to somewhat fleshy perianth; sepals 2
                                                                                        42 Plants not herbaceous vines, the leaves variously shaped; fruit various, but never utricles; sepals 4 or more.
                                                                                           43 Petals distinct (flowers apopetalous); stamens 5-many (4 or 5 in Capraria).
                                                                                             44 Pistils 4-10 (each 1-carpellate) in a ring, these sometimes fused basally, each with its own style/stigma; fruit either an aggregate of achenes or follicles or a 5 (-7) locular capsule.
                                                                                               45 Pistils 5 (-7); inflorescence a compound terminal cyme.
                                                                                                 46 Fruit an aggregate of follicles; leaves fleshy in texture; inflorescence; leaves entire of sparsely and coarsely serrate, with < 12 points per leaf; [plants primarily of dry habitats]
                                                                                                 46 Fruit a 5 (-7) locular capsule; leaves membranaceous in texture; leaves serrate, with > 20 points per leaf; [plants of wet habitats]
                                                                                               45 Pistils many; inflorescence of solitary flowers, or diffuse.
                                                                                                   47 Leaves cuneate at the base; flowers in a diffuse inflorescence
                                                                                                   47 Leaves cordate at the base; flowers solitary, on long pedicels
                                                                                             44 Pistil 1, with 1-to many carpels (in many MALVACEAE, the carpels loosely united in a ring [of more than 5] around the single style/stigma); fruit either a 1-, 2-, 3-, 5-, 6-, or 10-locular capsule, or a silique/silicle, or a ring of mericarps.
                                                                                                     48 Petals 4; sepals 4; stamens 6; fruit a silique/silicle
                                                                                                     48 Petals 5 (rarely 4 or 6); sepals 5 (rarely 4 or 6); stamens 4, 5 (or multiples of 5), 6, or 12; fruit a capsule or a ring of mericarps.
                                                                                                        49 Stamens (4-) 5-many, distinct (not forming a staminal tube); carpels 2-5; fruit a capsule; leaves entire (serrate in Croton in EUPHORBIACEAE, distally serrate in Capraria in SCROPHULARIACEAE).
                                                                                                          50 Flowers unisexual; leaf vestiture of peltate scales and/or stellate hairs
                                                                                                          50 Flowers bisexual; leaf vestiture (if present) simple or stellate.
                                                                                                            51 Flowers 6-merous (the petals and sepals 6, the stamens 6 or 12); corolla pink or purplish (rarely white); fruit a septicidal capsule
                                                                                                            51 Flowers 5-merous (the petals and sepals 5, stamens 5 or various multiples of 5); corolla white, yellow, reddish (including pinkish), or blue; fruit a loculicidal or septicidal capsule.
                                                                                                              52 Stamens 5 ; corolla yellow or blue; capsule either 10-locular and septicidal (Linum) or 1-locular (with 3 carpels) and loculicidal.
                                                                                                                53 Capsule 10-locular (with 5 carpels) and septicidal (splitting at the septa, opening at the top)
                                                                                                                53 Capsule 1-locular (with 3 carpels) and loculicidal (splitting along outer edges, not only at the top)
                                                                                                              52 Stamens (4-) 10, 15, 20, 30 (-many); corolla white, pink, yellow, or reddish; capsule 2-, 3-, 5- (-10)-locular, loculicidal.
                                                                                                                  54 Leaf margins distally serrate, the surfaces punctate-glandular and also with internal oil-secreting cavities; corolla white (the inside sometimes with scattered purple spots); [s. FL and s. TX only in our flora area]
                                                                                                                  54 Leaf margins entire, serrate, or crenate, lacking punctate-glands and internal oil-secreting cavities; corolla white, pink, yellow, or reddish; [collectively widespread, including s. FL and s. TX].
                                                                                                                     55 Stamens (5-) 10, 15, 20, 30 (-many); corolla yellow or reddish; filaments not densely villous basally, the anthers the anthers not conspicuously tubular and lacking apical pores; capsule 3 (-10)-locular, loculicidal
                                                                                                                     55 Stamens 10; corolla white or pink; filament bases dilated basally and densely villous, the anthers tubular with conspicuous apical pore dehiscence; capsule 5-locular
                                                                                           43 Petals fused (flowers sympetalous, this includes salverform and tubular flowers); stamens (4-) 5 (-7).
                                                                                                                       56 Plants herbaceous vines, fleshy and mucilaginous, the leaves variously orbicular, ovate, cordate or sometimes elliptic; fruit utricles (small sacs surrounding an achene), partly to completely enclosed in the persistent, dry to somewhat fleshy perianth; sepals 2
                                                                                                                       56 Plants not with the above combination of characters, if herbaceous vines then fruit not utricles and sepals 4 or more.
                                                                                                                         57 Pistils 2, united only by the style and stigma; fruit a schizocarp of 2 follicles (often single by abortion); plant with milky juice when fresh; leaves entire; inflorescence an umbel
                                                                                                                         57 Pistil 1 (of 2 or 3 fused carpels); fruit a capsule, drupe, or a schizocarp splitting into 4 nutlets; plant lacking milky juice; leaves entire or serrate; inflorescence various (but not an umbel).
                                                                                                                           58 Ovary slightly to deeply 2-4-lobed (entire or shallowly lobed in Tiquilia and HELIOTROPIACEAE); fruit a schizocarp of 4 mericarps or a drupe; [BORAGINALES].
                                                                                                                             59 Ovary deeply 4-parted; style gynobasic or terminal.
                                                                                                                               60 Style gynobasic (originating from the base of the ovary's lobes); ovary slightly to deeply lobed; fruit a schizocarp of 4 mericarps
                                                                                                                               60 Style terminal (originating from the apex of the ovary), twice-cleft into 4 branches, each of which then terminates in a stigma; ovary slightly lobed; fruit a drupe with a glutinous mesocarp (or if lacking, a nut)
                                                                                                                             59 Ovary slightly 2-4-lobed, or not at all lobed; style terminal or reduced to a sessile terminal stigma.
                                                                                                                                  61 Plants usually strongly gray or white-colored and villous, growing in short, suffrutescent mounds or mats; leaves densely pubescent (hairs densely appressed adaxially, tomentose abaxially); inflorescence of solitary flowers or extra-axillary, never scirpioid; corolla lavender or whitish-lavender, the lobes 1.8-3.0 (-4.5) mm long, broadly rounded; [s. TX, westward; primarily of the Trans-Pecos region]
                                                                                                                                  61 Plants variously glabrous or pubescent (sometimes villous), usually herbaceous, occasionally suffrutescent and mound or mat-forming; inflorescence variously elongate or racemose, often scirpioid (curved or coiled on one side of the inflorescence axis; e.g., Heliotropium), occasionally solitary (e.g., Euploca, in part; although in this case the leaves of the shrubby Euploca are significantly narrower); corolla variously colored (including lavender); [plants collectively widespread, including TX]
                                                                                                                           58 Ovary not lobed; fruit a capsule or berry.
                                                                                                                                    62 Leaves scale-like, 1-4.5 mm long, appressed to the stem; petals 4; stamens 4
                                                                                                                                    62 Leaves larger (or only 2-8 mm long in Pyxidanthera in DIAPENSIACEAE, but then spreading); petals 5-7; stamens 5-7.
                                                                                                                                      63 Plant a creeping subshrub (keyed here as a failsafe); leaves either 0.2-0.8 cm long and acicular, or 2-10 cm long and broadly ovate or elliptic.
                                                                                                                                        64 Leaves 0.2-0.8 cm long and acicular
                                                                                                                                        64 Leaves 2-10 cm long and broadly ovate or elliptic
                                                                                                                                      63 Plant an herb, erect or sprawling; leaves > 1.5 cm long.
                                                                                                                                          65 Leaves cordate at the base; plant a twining vine
                                                                                                                                          65 Leaves cuneate to rounded at the base; plant an erect, sprawling, or reclining herb (twining in Solanum dulcamara in SOLANACEAE).
                                                                                                                                            66 Inflorescences (solitary or of several flowers) terminal on the stem.
                                                                                                                                               67 Calyces tubular, conspicuously 5-ribbed and bearing numerous stalked, capitate-glands
                                                                                                                                               67 Calyces not as above, flowers typically campanulate (not salverform), if tubular then not also 5-ribbed and capitate-glandular.
                                                                                                                                                 68 Corolla lobes longer than the fused corolla cup, blue, pink, or white; styles 2; herbage lacking stipitate glands; fresh plants not aromatic.
                                                                                                                                                   69 Flowers in axillary cymes; capsule subglobose; leaves 2-12 cm long
                                                                                                                                                   69 Flowers solitary or paired in the leaf axils; capsule cylindrical; leaves 0.5-8 cm long
                                                                                                                                                 68 Corolla lobes very short, much shorter than the corolla cup or tube, sometimes barely perceptible and represented only by teeth on the edge of the corolla limb, white or pink; style 1; herbage often with stipitate glands; fresh plants often rankly aromatic
                                                                                                                                            66 Inflorescences (of solitary or several flowers) axillary or lateral on the stem.
                                                                                                                                                     70 Flowers sessile or very-short pedicelled, solitary in the leaf axils.
                                                                                                                                                       71 Stamens alternate with the corolla lobes; flower ca. 10 mm in diameter
                                                                                                                                                       71 Stamens opposite the corolla lobes; flower ca. 1 mm in diameter
                                                                                                                                                     70 Flowers either solitary and obviously pedicelled, or several in an axillary or lateral inflorescence.
                                                                                                                                                         72 Calyces tubular, conspicuously 5-ribbed and bearing numerous stalked, capitate-glands
                                                                                                                                                         72 Calyces not as above, flowers typically campanulate (not salverform), if tubular then not also 5-ribbed and capitate-glandular.
                                                                                                                                                            73 Corolla lobes longer than the fused corolla cup, blue
                                                                                                                                                            73 Corolla lobes very short, much shorter than the corolla cup or tube, sometimes barely perceptible and represented only by teeth on the edge of the corolla limb, white, yellow, pink, various other colors (rarely including blue).
                                                                                                                                                              74 Fruit a capsule, 4-seeded
                                                                                                                                                              74 Fruit a berry or capsule, many-seeded

Key P2: herbaceous dicots with alternate, simple, and palmately lobed leaves on the stem

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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
1 Inflorescence, flower, and fruit structure various, but not with the combination of features as above (sometimes the flowers in a head, e.g. Eryngium in APIACEAE, but then with other features differing, such as stamens 4, or green calyx present, or fruit a schizocarp of mericarps, etc.).
  2 Plant a vine, climbing by tendrils or twining.
    3 Vine climbing by twining.
      4 Leaf margins entire; flowers bisexual; plants hermaphroditic; petals connate, large and showy
      4 Leaf margins serrate; flowers unisexual; plants dioecious; petals absent
    3 Vine climbing by tendrils.
        5 Ovary inferior; petals connate; flowers unisexual
        5 Ovary superior; petals distinct; flowers bisexual
  2 Plant an herb, sometimes sprawling, reclining (e.g. Cymbalaria in PLANTAGINACEAE, Aconitum in RANUNCULACEAE), but lacking climbing adaptations such as tendrils or twining stems.
          6 Ovary inferior; inflorescence an umbel (or flowers solitary or in dichasia in Mentzelia); fruit a schizocarp of 2 mericarps or a capsule (Mentzelia).
             7 Flowers solitary or in dichasia; fruit capsules dehiscing via apical valves
             7 Inflorescence an umbel; fruit a schizocarp of 2 mericarps
               8 Involucre well-developed and obvious
               8 Involucre absent or minute
          6 Ovary superior; inflorescence various, not an umbel; fruit various, a capsule, an aggregate of achenes or follicles, or a ring of (>2) mericarps.
                 9 Perianth uniseriate, the corolla absent (the calyx petaloid and white in Cnidoscolus); flowers unisexual; plants either with stinging hairs or not
                 9 Perianth biseriate (uniseriate in Aphanes in ROSACEAE and in Trautvetteria in RANUNCULACEAE); flowers bisexual; plants lacking stinging hairs.
                   10 Pistils many (or 2-3 in Aphanes in ROSACEAE), each with 1 carpel, arranged spirally or in a ring (if in a ring, of 2-5); fruit an aggregate of achenes, follicles, or utricles.
                     11 Perianth bilaterally symmetrical, either hooded or spurred; fruit an aggregate of follicles
                     11 Perianth radially symmetrical, not hooded or spurred; fruit an aggregate of utricles or achenes (plumose achenes in Geum)
                       12 Stamens showy, bright white, dilated towards the tip; pistils ca. 15; fruit an aggregate of utricles
                       12 Stamens not showy, white, or dilated towards the tip; pistils many (> 25); fruit an aggregate of achenes.
                          13 Flowers lacking a hypanthium; achenes short-beaked
                          13 Flowers with a prominent hypanthium; achenes with an elongate, plumose beak
                   10 Pistil 1, with 1-to many carpels (in many MALVACEAE, the carpels loosely united in a ring of more than 5 around the style); fruit a capsule, an achene, a follicle, or a ring of 3 or 5-many 1-seeded mericarps.
                            14 Perianth uniseriate, the corolla absent
                            14 Perianth biseriate, with well-developed and differentiated calyx and corolla
                              15 Corolla bilaterally symmetrical, the petals connate (except distinct in Delphinium in RANUNCULACEAE); fruit a capsule, a follicle, or a schizocarp of 3 1-seeded mericarps.
                                16 Corolla not spurred; fruit an elongate (10-20 cm) capsule with 2 curved beaks
                                16 Corolla with a nectar spur; fruit < 3 cm long.
                                  17 Petals distinct; fruit a follicle
                                  17 Petals connate; fruit a capsule or a schizocarp of 3 1-seeded mericarps.
                                    18 Carpels 2; fruit a capsule; stamens 4
                                    18 Carpels 3; fruit a schizocarp of 3 1-seeded mericarps; stamens 8
                              15 Corolla radially symmetrical, the petals distinct (fused and tubular in Ipomoea); fruit a capsule or a schizocarp consisting of a ring of 5-many 1-seeded mericarps.
                                       19 Stem trailing; petals fused and tubular
                                       19 Stem erect; petals separate.
                                         20 Stamens many, connate into a stamen tube; carpels 5-many, completely or only loosely fused; fruit a capsule or a schizocarp of 5-many mericarps borne in a ring; calyx often subtended by an epicalyx (an additional calyx-like, green, foliaceous whorl of bracts)
                                         20 Stamens 5 or 10, distinct; carpels 2 or 5, fused; fruit a capsule or a schizocarp of 5 1-seeded mericarps.
                                           21 Fruit a schizocarp of 5 1-seeded mericarps; carpels 5; stamens 10
                                           21 Fruit a capsule with 2 locules, loculicidal; carpels 2; stamens 5