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1 Suffrutescent herb, usually little branched from the lower stem (often much branched above, and in Lechea with specialized short basal shoots at ground level); flowers axillary or terminal in branching inflorescences; leaves 4-50 mm long, mostly linear, lanceolate, oblong, or elliptic; capsule globose, subglobose, ellipsoid, ovoid, or obovoid, < 2× as long as wide. | |
2 Flowers of 2 types, the chasmogamous with 5 showy yellow petals, the cleistogamous lacking petals; pubescence of the stem stellate; leaves 10-50 mm long, alternate; plants with shoots of one type only, not producing short basal shoots; capsules 1.3-12.5 mm long, the larger capsules of chasmogamous flowers at least 2.0 mm long | |
2 Flowers of 1 type, with 3 inconspicuous, dark red petals; pubescence of the stem simple; leaves 4-15 mm long (to 30 mm long in L. pulchella and L. mucronata), linear to linear-elliptic, 0.5-4 mm wide (to 13 mm wide in L. mucronata), alternate, opposite, or whorled; plants with shoots of two types, the short, prostrate to ascending basal shoots produced late in the season and overwintering; capsules 0.9-1.7 mm long |