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| 1 Fresh flowers orange, yellow, greenish-yellow, or greenish white (if greenish white, then the inflorescence a terminal many-branched cyme); [“North America clade”]. |
| ..2 Inflorescence a dense pom-pom-like raceme, terminating leafy branches. |
| ....3 Fresh flowers lemon-yellow or greenish yellow; subulate bracts of the inflorescence 4.5-6.5 mm long; plants 3-10 (-15) cm tall; lobes of lower petal (keel) 1.5-2.5 mm long |
| ....3 Fresh flowers bright orange or bright yellow; subulate bracts of the inflorescence 2-4 mm long; plants 5-80 cm tall; lobes of lower petal (keel) 0.5-1.1 mm long. |
| ......4 Racemes ca. 15 mm in diameter; flowers bright orange (rarely individual plants within a population with bright yellow flowers); plants 5-40 cm tall; [more widespread] |
| ......4 Racemes ca. 25 mm in diameter; flowers bright yellow; plants 30-80 cm tall; [of FL] |
| ..2 Inflorescence a terminal, many-branched cyme, the many individual branches loosely to densely flowered. |
| ........5 Fresh flowers cream-white to greenish-white; [of GA southward]. |
| ..........6 Inflorescence of dense racemes; wings white (drying darker), 0.9-1.4 mm wide, the apical cusp 0.6-0.8 mm long; seeds < 0.6 mm long; aril of seeds usually ca. 0.2 mm long; [more widespread] |
| ..........6 Inflorescence of elongated racemes; wings cream to greenish-white (drying darker), 1.5-1.7 mm wide, the apical cusp 0.3-0.5 mm long; seeds usually 0.6-0.7 mm long; aril of seeds a minute scale or absent; [of s. FL] |
| ........5 Fresh flowers bright yellow; [collectively widespread in the Coastal Plain of our area]. |
| ............ 7 Plants 4.5-12 dm tall, the stem solitary; basal leaves 3.5-14 cm long, linear-lanceolate, about 15-20× as long as wide, persistent as a basal rosette; stem leaves linear-subulate, sharp-tipped, much reduced from the basal leaves, becoming bractlike upward; seeds glabrous, 0.7-0.9 mm long |
| ............ 7 Plants 1-4 dm tall, the stems 1-several from the base; basal leaves 3-7 cm long, spatulate, about 10× as long as wide, usually not persistent after flowering; stem leaves narrowly spatulate to linear, blunt-tipped, only slightly reduced from the basal leaves; seeds pubescent, 0.5-0.7 mm long |
| 1 Fresh flowers pink, purple, white, or green (if green or white, then the inflorescence a simple raceme, not a many-branched cyme). |
............ ..8 Leaves few, clustered near the tip of the stem; wings 13-20 mm long; stamens 6; [of moist soils of forests in the Mountains] |
| ............ ..8 Leaves many, evenly distributed along the stem, or not at least strongly clustered near the tip; wings < 10 mm long; stamens 8; [collectively of a wide variety of habitats, but generally not as above, either in more open, drier, or non-montane habitats]. |
| ............ ....9 Leaves whorled, at least at the principal lower nodes; annual, from a slender taproot. |
| ............ ......10 Racemes 3-8 mm in diameter, pointed in outline; flowers sessile to pedicellate with pedicels < 1 mm long; [“Verticillatae clade"]. |
| ............ ........11 Wings 2-3 mm long; plant perennial, usually multistemmed from the base and little or not branched above; racemes 30-240 mm long. |
| ............ ..........12 Lowermost leaves elliptic to suborbicular; branches ascending to erect; [s. FL north and west to GA, TN, MS, and w. LA] |
| ............ ..........12 Lowermost leaves linear to linear-lanceolate; branches decumbent to spreading; [s. FL] |
| ............ ........11 Wings 1-1.75 mm long; plant annual, unbranched or freely branched above. |
| ............ ............ 13 Internodes > 5 cm long, the whorls very distant from one another; seeds glabrous or nearly so; seeds fusiform |
| ............ ............ 13 Internodes (most, at least) < 4 cm long; seeds pubescent; seeds ovoid to narrowly ovoid. |
| ............ ............ ..14 Racemes 2-5 cm long, becoming interrupted below through persistence of the fruits on the axis; wings equaling the fruit |
| ............ ............ ..14 Racemes 0.5-1.5 cm long, the fruits falling promptly, thus the inflorescence compact and truncate below; wings shorter than the fruit. |
| ............ ............ ....15 Seeds finely pubescent; pedicels 1/4-1/3 as long as the fruit; raceme peduncles 0.5-4 cm long |
| ............ ............ ....15 Seeds hirsute; pedicels 1/3-1/2 as long as the fruit; raceme peduncles 2-7 cm long |
| ............ ......10 Racemes 7-20 mm in diameter, rounded in outline (somewhat rounded to somewhat pointed in P. hookeri); flowers pedicellate; [“North America clade”]. |
| ............ ............ ......16 Racemes loosely flowered, with ca. 10 flowers per cm of length; raceme 7-12 mm in diameter, the tip pointed (obconical) in outline; full raceme (including the portion with dropped fruits) to 6 cm long |
| ............ ............ ......16 Racemes densely flowered, with ca. 20 flowers per cm of length; raceme 7-20 mm in diameter, the tip rounded to truncate in outline; full raceme (including the portion with dropped fruits) to 4.5 cm long. |
| ............ ............ ........17 Bracts of the inflorescence ca. 1 mm long; wings 1.5-2.5 mm wide, acute or short-mucronate at the tip; raceme peduncle (0.8-) 3-5 cm long |
| ............ ............ ........17 Bracts of the inflorescence 1.5-3 mm long; wings 3-4 mm wide, acuminate, the tips cuspidate; raceme peduncle 0-0.8 (-4) cm long |
| ............ ............ ..........18 Peduncle + axis length (10-) avg. 16 (-23) mm (in late flower or fruit); raceme (8.5-) avg. 9.9 (-12) mm wide |
| ............ ............ ..........18 Peduncle + axis length (11-) avg. 35 (-96) mm (in late flower or fruit); raceme (10-) avg. 12 (-15) mm wide |
| ............ ....9 Leaves all alternate; either annual, from a slender taproot, the stems solitary, or biennial to perennial, from a taproot, the stems solitary to several, or perennial, from a thick rhizome, the stems several. |
| ............ ............ ............ 19 Leaves glaucous, somewhat succulent, linear; corolla 7-10 mm long, > 2× as long as the wings; [“North America clade”] |
| ............ ............ ............ 19 Leaves green, herbaceous, usually broader than linear; corolla < 5 mm long, roughly equal to or shorter than the wings. |
| ............ ............ ............ ..20 Leaves reduced to subulate scales < 2 mm long; [e. GA west to MS, south to s. FL]; [“North America clade”] |
| ............ ............ ............ ..20 Leaves (at least the larger) > 2 mm long, not subulate; [collectively widespread]. |
| ............ ............ ............ ....21 Perennial or biennial, usually several stems arising together from a rhizome or taproot. |
| ............ ............ ............ ......22 Wings white, 2-3 mm long; flowers sessile or subsessile; plants from a thick crown; [“Linoideae clade"]. |
| ............ ............ ............ ........23 Larger leaves mostly 15-35 mm wide; capsules 3.5-4.2 mm long; seeds 3.0-3.5 mm long |
| ............ ............ ............ ........23 Larger leaves mostly 2-15 mm wide; capsules 2.5-3.5 mm long; seeds ca. 2.5 mm long |
| ............ ............ ............ ......22 Wings pink, 4-7 mm long; flowers pedicelled; plants from a taproot. |
| ............ ............ ............ ..........24 Corolla keel entire at the tip; wings 5-7 mm long, reniform-orbicular; plants lacking cleistogamous flowers |
| ............ ............ ............ ..........24 Corolla keel fringed at the tip; wings 4-6 mm long, elliptic; plants producing cleistogamous flowers in loose subterranean or surficial racemes; [“North America clade”] |
| ............ ............ ............ ....21 Annual, the stems solitary; [“North America clade”]. |
| ............ ............ ............ ............ 25 Corolla about 0.5× as long as the wings |
| ............ ............ ............ ............ 25 Corolla about 1× as long as the wings. |
| ............ ............ ............ ............ ..26 Inflorescence bracts dropping from the axis promptly following flowering |
| ............ ............ ............ ............ ..26 Inflorescence bracts persistent. |
| ............ ............ ............ ............ ....27 Wings 3-5 mm long; pedicels 1.5-2.5 mm long; racemes 8-13 mm in diameter |
| ............ ............ ............ ............ ....27 Wings 2-2.5 mm long; pedicels 0.5-1.5 mm long; racemes 5-6 mm in diameter |