1 Flowers pale to bright yellow; seeds 1.0-2.5 mm wide; annual; [native (though sometimes weedy), collectively widespread in our area].

  2 Fruits pendent or divergent; spurred petal 7-10 mm long; pedicels 6-15 mm long; seeds 1.8-2.5 mm wide, with a narrow, acute ring-margin

  2 Fruits erect or ascending (pendent or divergent in C. aurea); spurred petal 10-15 mm long; pedicels 1-6 mm long (5-10 mm long in C. aurea); seeds 1.0-2.2 mm wide, with or without a narrow, acute ring-margin.

    3 Capsule slightly to strongly pubescent with white, pustular-based hairs; outer petals with conspicuous crests

    3 Capsules glabrous (or if with a few hairs, these not white and pustular-based); outer petals with inconspicuous crests.

      4 Seeds ca. 1.5 mm in diameter; plants frequently with cleistogamous flowers in racemes with 1-5 flowers.

        5 Capsules mostly 10-15 mm long, 1.5-2.0 mm in diameter, slightly or not at all constricted between the seeds at maturity; inflorescence relatively short, barely (if at all) overtopping the upper leaves; ultimate leaf segments 1.0-2.0 (-4.0) mm wide; seeds > 1.5 mm wide; plant green to slightly glaucous; [mainly west of the Mississippi River, and disjunct eastwards on circumneutral rock outcrops of the upper Piedmont and Mountains]

        5 Capsules mostly 15-20 mm long, ca. 1.0 mm in diameter, strongly constricted between the seeds at maturity; inflorescence long, usually far exceeding the poorly-developed upper leaves; ultimate leaf segments 0.5-1.5 (-3.0) mm wide; seeds < 1.5 mm wide; plant slightly to strongly glaucous; [east of the Mississippi River mainly in sandy soils of the Coastal Plain, more general in habitat westwards]

          6 Capsules mostly 21-35 mm long; stems stout, strong

          6 Capsules mostly 15-20 mm long; stems weak

      4 Seeds ca. 1.8-2.0 mm in diameter; plants rarely with racemes of cleistogamous flowers.

             7 Capsules 10-20 mm long; seeds with narrow marginal ring

             7 Capsules 18-35 mm long; seeds with or without narrow marginal ring

               8 Capsules (20-) 25-35 mm long; seeds obviously reticulate at 10-20× magnification

               8 Capsules 18-24 (-30) mm long; seeds smooth or faintly reticulate at 10-20× magnification

                 9 Seeds faintly reticulate at 10-20× magnification

                 9 Seeds essentially smooth at 10-20× magnification