Flora of the Southeastern United States

Leaves evergreen.

Plant a shrub, erect, not requiring support.

Leaves with spiny margins; fruit a drupe; [uncommon horticultural escapes].

Flowers 5-merous, the petals clawed; leaves usually small (ca. 2-3 mm long or less); [FL]

Flowers 4-merous; petals not clawed; leaves larger (the longer leaves usually > 3 mm long); [NC northeastward]

Leaves with crenate or serrate margins (the teeth not bearing small spines); fruits various; [widespread natives and non-natives]

Leaves slightly to strongly fleshy; inflorescence a head; [maritime situations]

Leaves not fleshy; inflorescence either a head or otherwise; [collectively widespread].

Leaves > 8 cm long, typically spotted with yellow, coarsely toothed; fruit a red drupe; [commonly cultivated, rarely seeding down nearby]

Leaves < 8 cm long, not yellow-spotted, serrulate; fruit a capsule or purplish drupe; [plants native or cultivated].

Inflorescence a head; [s. FL]

Inflorescence otherwise; [more widespread].

Corolla tubular, campanulate, bilaterally symmetrical; fruit a 1-seeded achene (rarely produced)

Corolla radially symmetrical, with 4-5 distinct petals; fruit a 2-10-seeded capsule or drupe.

Fruit a 4-5-locular capsule, with 2 seeds per locule (though often fewer by abortion)

Fruit a (2-) 3-locular, purplish-black drupe, with (2-) 3 single-seeded stones

Plant a subshrub, creeping shrub, or liana.

Leaves spinose-serrate; [exotics, rarely naturalized]

Leaves serrate (not spinose), serrulate, or crenate; [exotics and natives, collectively widespread].

Leaves slightly to strongly fleshy; inflorescence a head; [maritime situations]

Leaves not fleshy; inflorescence otherwise; [collectively widespread].

Leaves on vigorous shoots with a few coarse rounded teeth towards the base (most leaves entire)

Leaves serrulate to serrate, the teeth uniformly around the margin or concentrated towards the tip; fruit dry, either indehiscent and 1-seeded or capsular and with several seeds.

Flowers 5-merous; petals fused; fruit indehiscent, 1-seeded; [montane, from e. TN, WV, and w. MD northwards in our area]

Flowers 4- or 5-merous; petals separate; fruit capsular, dehiscent, several-seeded; [collectively widespread in our area]

Leaves deciduous.

Leaves slightly to strongly fleshy; inflorescence a head, subtended by an involucre of phyllaries; [maritime situations]

Leaves not fleshy; inflorescence, flower, and fruit structure various, but not with the combination of features as above (sometimes the flowers in a head subtended by bracts, but then with other features differing, such as stamens 4, or green calyx present, or petals separate, or fruit a schizocarp of mericarps, etc.); [collectively widespread].

Lianas climbing by twining or by adventitious roots.

Stems with retrorse prickles; foliage scabrous

Stems not prickly; foliage smooth to variously hairy, but not scabrous.

Leaves on vigorous shoots with a few coarse rounded teeth towards the base (most leaves entire), the larger leaves < 3 cm wide; lianas climbing by twining; fruit a fleshy berry; flowers 5-merous, with a fused, tubular corolla

Leaves serrate, the teeth towards the leaf apex, the larger leaves > 4 cm wide; lianas climbing by adventitious roots; fruit a capsule; flowers 7-10-merous, with separate petals

Upright shrubs or trees, lacking any adaptations for climbing.

Trees; leaves often a mix of alternate and opposite.

Leaves harshly scabrous on the upper surface; fruit a multiple of achenes; leaf venation pinnate but irregular

Leaves not scabrous; fruit a 2-4-seeded drupe; leaf venation neatly pinnate, the lateral veins nearly straight and parallel to one another

Shrubs or trees; leaves strictly opposite (or often subopposite in RHAMNACEAE).

Trees; leaves palmately-veined, with 5 or more veins from the base; [rarely naturalizing]

Shrubs; leaves either triple-veined from near the base or pinnate-veined; [collectively widespread and common]

Leaves strongly triple-veined from at or near the base of the blade, the 2 lateral veins arching towards the tip and rejoining the midvein or nearly so (becoming diffuse before rejoining); petals 4, white; stamens 15-90

Leaves pinnate-veined; petals various, not both 4 and white (except sometimes in Hydrangea); stamens 1-15 (except 15-30 in Exochorda in ROSACEAE).

Inflorescence head-like; flowers sympetalous and 4-lobed; fruit 2 seeded

Inflorescence more diffuse, with internal axes and pedicels; flowers not BOTH sympetalous and 4-lobed (except in Forsythia and Buddleja, which have conspicuous axillary or paniculate inflorescences); fruit 1-seeded, 2-4-seeded, or 4-many-seeded.

Plants in flower.

Corolla absent; flowers inconspicuous and small, in axillary fascicles or catkins.

Flowers in catkins; leaves usually a mix of opposite and alternate

Flowers in axillary fascicles; leaves strictly opposite (subopposite)

Corolla present; flowers larger, in terminal cymes, corymbs, racemes, panicles, or in axillary cymes or fascicles.

Petals separate; stamens 8-10 (-60) (or 4-6 in RHAMNACEAE and Euonymus in CELASTRACEAE).

Flowers 1-few, in axillary cymes; stamens 4-6; stems brown, tan, gray, or green.

Leaf venation pinnate, but irregular and reticulated; stems green

Leaf venation neatly pinnate, the lateral veins nearly straight and parallel to one another; stems brown, tan, or gray

Flowers 1 and terminal, or many, in terminal panicles or corymbs; stamens 8-10 (-60); stems brown, tan or gray.

Inflorescence a solitary, terminal flower; stamens 30-60

Inflorescence a terminal panicle or corymb; stamens 8-15

Petals fused, at least basally, and often strongly tubular; stamens 2, 4, or 5.

Stamens 5.

Petals white, fused basally only, the lobes spreading

Petals pink, yellow, or reddish, fused for most of their length

Stamens 2 or 4.

Stamens 2; petals yellow; flowers radially symmetrical; inflorescence an axillary fascicle

Stamens 4; petals white, pink, or lavender; flowers bilabiate; inflorescence a terminal thyrse or panicle or an axillary cyme.

Petals 4; inflorescence a terminal thyrse

Petals 5; inflorescence a terminal panicle or an axillary cyme.

Inflorescence an axillary cyme

Inflorescence a terminal panicle

Flowers lavender; fruit a shiny orange drupe (appearing berry-like)

Flowers pinkish-white; fruit a bristly achene

Plants in fruit.

Fruit a berry, drupe, or achene, indehiscent, fleshy at maturity (or dry in Kolkwitzia).

Fruit a berry, with 20+ seeds

Fruit a drupe or achene, with 1-4 seeds.

Fruit an achene (1-seeded), dry at maturity

Fruit a drupe (1-4-seeded), fleshy at maturity.

Inflorescence a terminal corymb

Inflorescence axillary, fascicled or a cyme.

Foliage with stellate hairs; fruit a pink-purple 4-seeded drupe

Foliage glabrous or with simple hairs; fruit a dark red, black, or blue 1-4-seeded drupe.

Fruit a 1-seeded drupe; [NC southwards and westwards]

Fruit a 2-4-seeded drupe; [widespread in our region]

Fruit a capsule, dehiscent, dry at maturity.

Inflorescence a catkin, the flowers small (< 5 mm in diameter) and tightly arranged on the inflorescence axis (> 5 per cm of the axis)

Inflorescence various, but more diffuse, the flowers larger (> 5 mm in diameter, except for some flowers in Hydrangea in HYDRANGEACEAE) and loosely arranged (< 5 per cm of axis).

Capsule prominently 5-angled (star-shaped in ×-section)

Capsule not angled.

Inflorescence axillary, fascicled.

Capsule pink to red; fruits solitary or in axillary cymes

Capsule brown; fruits in axillary fascicles

Inflorescence terminal, a raceme, panicle, corymb, or compound cyme or thyrse.

Inflorescence a flat-topped corymb or rounded compound cyme, as wide as or wider than long

Inflorescence elongated, a raceme, panicle, or thyrse, much longer than wide.

Capsule about as long as wide, 3-6 mm long.

Sepal lobes 5

Sepal lobes 4