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Key to Lysimachia

Primulaceae

Lysimachia

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1 Leaves alternate (or with some opposite or subopposite); flowers white.
  2 Flowers axillary, nearly sessile or pedicellate; leaves 0.3-1.0 cm long.
  2 Flowers in a terminal raceme, pedicellate, the flowers closely spaced, touching, the inflorescence thus appearing cylindrical, and generally drooping at the tip (reminiscent of Saururus cernuus); leaves 4-16 cm long; [introduced, rarely naturalized in upland situations]
    3 Corolla lobes 5-8 mm long; leaf blades 4-10 cm long × 0.6-2.2 cm wide, epunctate
    3 Corolla lobes 3.5-4.5 mm long; leaf blades 6-16 cm long × 2-5 cm wide, sparsely punctate with black glands
1 Leaves opposite or whorled; flowers yellow, white, pink, red, or blue.
      4 Leaves in a single terminal whorl; petals 7; flowers white
      4 Leaves opposite or whorled (if whorled, with several to many whorls); petals 0 or 5; flowers yellow, red, blue, white, or pink.
        5 Leaves < 2 cm long (and distinctly longer than wide); flowers red, blue, white, or pink.
          6 Flowers nearly sessile; corolla absent
          6 Flowers on long pedicels; corolla present.
        5 Leaves > 2 cm long (sometimes less in L. nummularia, and then orbicular, and about as wide as long); flowers yellow
             7 Leaves nearly round; plant trailing, rooting at nodes
               8 Flowers 5-7 mm across; sepals about 1× as long as the petals; stem pilose
               8 Flowers 16-24 mm across; sepals about ½× as long as the petals; stem glabrous
             7 Leaves linear, lanceolate, elliptic, or ovate; plant erect (or trailing and rooting at the nodes in L. radicans, which has lanceolate leaves).
                 9 Flowers in a terminal raceme or panicle, subtended by bracts much smaller than the stem leaves.
                   10 Inflorescence a terminal panicle
                   10 Inflorescence a terminal raceme.
                     11 Leaves narrowly ovate, broadest near the base, with 3 prominent veins
                     11 Leaves linear to lanceolate, broadest near the middle, with 1 prominent vein.
                       12 Leaves linear to narrowly lanceolate, (1-) 2-4 (-8) mm wide; sepals stipitate-glandular
                       12 Leaves lanceolate to elliptic, 7-20 mm wide; sepals glabrous.
                          13 Flowers in part (the lower) in the axils of well-developed leaves
                          13 Flowers all in the axils of much reduced linear bracts
                 9 Flowers axillary, all or most of them subtended by leaves similar in shape to (though often somewhat smaller than) stem leaves not subtending flowers (or with flowers in axillary, peduncled, densely-flowered racemes in L. thyrsiflora).
                            14 Flowers in peduncled axillary racemes in the axils of midstem leaves; petals linear to lanceolate, ca. 5 mm long and ca. 1 mm wide, much surpassed by the stamens
                            14 Flowers solitary, all or most of them subtended by leaves similar in shape to (though often somewhat smaller than) normal stem leaves; petals lanceolate to ovate, as long or longer than the stamens.
                              15 Stem leaves opposite; leaves not “punctate” (as described below).
                              15 Stem leaves whorled (in adult plants – juvenile plants with opposite leaves or a mixture of opposite and whorled); leaves “punctate” with sinuous, elongate markings (visible with the naked eye, but more readily observed with 10 × magnification).
                                16 Petals yellow, marked with black lines; sepals 2.5-5 mm long; stem glabrous or sparsely pubescent; [native]
                                16 Petals plain yellow, not marked with black lines; sepals 2.5-4.5 mm (L. vulgaris) or 5.5-9 mm long (L. punctata]; stem hairy; [exotic].
                                  17 Calyx lobes 5-8 mm long, green throughout; corolla lobes 12-16 mm long, glandular-ciliolate
                                  17 Calyx lobes 3-5 mm long, with red margins; corolla lobes 8-12 mm long, entire

Key to Primulaceae

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1 Shrub or tree; [of FL, s. GA, s. AL, LA, se. TX, and southward]
  2 Fruit a berry, with (1-) 2-8 seeds; fruits 9-10 mm or 30-40 mm in diameter; [subfamily Theophrastoideae]
    3 Fruits 30-40 mm in diameter; seeds 9-11 mm long, flattened; leaves 2.5-4× as long as wide, widest near the midpoint, the apex acute to acuminate and also aristate; corollas yellow to orange or red
    3 Fruits 9-10 mm in diameter; seeds 3-5 mm long, subglobose; leaves 1.5-3× as long as wide, widest towards the tip, spatulate or obovate, the apex rounded, truncate, or obtuse; corollas white to cream
  2 Fruit a drupe, with 1 seed; fruits 3.5-8 mm in diameter; [subfamily Myrsinoideae].
      4 Flowers in axillary or terminal cymes, umbels, subumbels, panicles, or racemes of 5-many flowers; flowers bisexual
      4 Flowers in fascicles of 5-9, on short stalks directly on the stem; flowers unisexual
1 Herb; [collectively widespread].
        5 Aquatic; leaves pectinate (deeply pinnatifid into linear segments); [subfamily Primuloideae]
        5 Terrestrial (though sometimes in wetlands or submersed for short periods of time); leaves entire or shallowly toothed.
          6 Leaves strictly in a basal rosette or basally disposed (with a basal rosette and smaller stem leaves).
             7 Basal leaves petiolate; leaf base cordate; leaves typically variegated with varying shades of green and silver
             7 Basal leaves sessile; leaf bases cuneate to rounded; leaves not variegated.
               8 Inflorescence a raceme or a panicle of racemes; larger leaves basal and smaller leaves on the stem; [subfamily Theophrastidoideae, tribe Samoleae]
               8 Inflorescence an umbel; leaves strictly basal; [subfamily Primuloideae]
                 9 Leaves < 3 cm long; corolla < 6 mm long, included or nearly so in the calyx; [s. IN, s. IL, MO, n. and w. AR, and TX northwestwards]
                 9 Leaves > 4 cm long; corolla 8-30 mm long, exserted beyond the calyx; [collectively widespread in our area]
          6 Leaves all or chiefly cauline; [subfamily Myrsinoideae]
                   10 Leaves all or chiefly alternate; flowers white or whitish.
                     11 Flowers solitary and nearly sessile in leaf axils
                     11 Flowers in a terminal raceme
                   10 Leaves all or chiefly opposite or whorled; flowers yellow, blue, red, or whitish.
                       12 Leaves whorled at a single node at the terminus of the stem; petals 7
                       12 Leaves arrayed along the stem, alternate, opposite, or whorled; petals 5 (rarely 0 [in Lysimachia maritima] or 6 [in Lysimachia thyrsiflora])
                          13 Flowers yellow.
                            14 Flowers lacking staminodes; filaments either connate below or free (Lysimachia thyrsiflora); leaves “punctate” with sinuous, elongate markings (visible with the naked eye, but more readily observed with 10× magnification and ideally with transmitted light).
                            14 Flowers with staminodes alternating with the stamens; filaments free; leaves not "punctate" (see above).