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1 Leaves tiny, bract-like, triangular, 6-14 (-17) per node |
1 Leaves either needle-like, scale-like, or flattened and large, (2-) 3-4 (-6) per node. |
..2 Leaves needle-like or scale-like, terete, angled, or flat in ×-section, < 2 cm long; leaves (2-) 3-4 (-6) per node |
..2 Leaves flat, > 3 cm long; leaves (2-) 3 per node; [Eudicots]. |
....3 Plant a subshrub, < 3 dm tall, with < 10 leaves per stem. |
......4 Leaves entire, broadly elliptic; flowers numerous, in a hemispherical head, subtended by 4 large white bracts |
......4 Leaves serrate, narrowly ovate or narrowly obovate; flowers (1-) 2-8 in a long-peduncled umbel or corymb, not subtended by bracts |
....3 Plant a shrub or tree, > 3 dm tall, with many > 10 leaves per stem. |
........5 Leaves toothed, and most leaves also lobed |
........5 Leaves entire, not lobed. |
..........6 Leaves cordate at base; leaves about as long as wide; medium to large tree. |
............ 7 Flowers white to yellow; capsules linear, >10× as long as wide; leaf undersurface with curly simple hairs; nectar glands present in the main vein axils on the undersurface of the leaf (visible from the underside or the upperside in fresh leaves and herbarium specimens as a triangle 1-4 mm on a side) |
............ 7 Flowers lavender; capsules ellipsoid, < 2× as long as wide; leaf undersurface with branched (dendritic or stellate) hairs; nectar glands absent |
..........6 Leaves cuneate to rounded at base; leaves > 1.5× as long as wide; shrub to small tree. |
............ ..8 Leaves rounded at the tip |
............ ..8 Leaves acute to acuminate at the tip. |
............ ....9 Leaves lanceolate or oblong-elliptic (> 2.5× as long as wide), the secondary venation not prominent; inflorescences axillary or terminal; flowers pink or white. |
............ ......10 Inflorescences axillary; flowers pink; leaves thin and herbaceous; [native plants of wetlands] |
............ ......10 Inflorescences terminal or axillary; flowers pink or white; leaves thick and leathery; [exotics of uplands or wetlands, persistent or weakly naturalized] |
............ ........11 Fruit berry-like with 2-locular ovaries; flowers white-colored, smaller; inflorescence axillary or pseudo-terminal; leaves opposite to whorled |
............ ........11 Fruit follicles; flowers variously colored, showy and salverform; inflorescence terminal; leaves alternate to whorled (pseudo-whorled) |
............ ....9 Leaves ovate (< 2× as long as wide), the secondary venation prominent and arching-parallel; inflorescences terminal; flowers white, greenish-yellow, red, or orange. |
............ ..........12 Flowers in a spherical or hemispherical head; corollas white or greenish-yellow |
............ ..........12 Flowers in a monochasial helicoid cyme; corollas red to orange |
1 Aerial and epiphytic, hemiparasitic shrub |
1 Terrestrial, autotrophic or hemiparasitic shrub or subshrub. |
..2 Leaves succulent, nearly as thick as wide; [brackish to saline situations] |
..2 Leaves herbaceous (succulent in Borrichia), much wider than thick; [various habitats]. |
....3 Creeping or short subshrubs, the stems primarily prostrate, < 2 dm tall. |
......4 Well-developed leaves 4-6 per stem; inflorescence a head subtended by 4 large white bracts |
......4 Well-developed leaves many per stem; inflorescence of individual flowers axillary in pairs or clusters or in terminal cymes. |
........5 Flowers yellow; leaves with pellucid or dark punctate glands (use at least 10× magnification) |
........5 Flowers white, pale pink, or deep pink; leaves lacking sessile, punctate glands. |
..........6 Leaves linear; flowers pale to deep pink, 5-merous |
..........6 Leaves orbicular or elliptic; flowers white to pale pink, 4-merous or 5-merous |
............ 7 Leaves elliptic; flowers 5-merous; fruit a brownish capsule |
............ 7 Leaves orbicular; flowers 4-merous; fruit a red berry |
....3 Upright or scrambling shrubs, > 3 dm tall |
............ ..8 Scrambling shrubs, armed with recurved paired spines at the nodes |
............ ..8 Upright shrubs, unarmed. |
............ ....9 Inflorescence a terminal head of many flowers. |
............ ......10 Head spherical, lacking an involucre of conspicuous bracts or phyllaries |
............ ......10 Head flattened, either subtended by 4 large white bracts or by an involucre with >5 green phyllaries. |
............ ........11 Head subtended by 4 large white bracts; leaves with prominently parallel-arcing secondary veins; flowers 4-merous |
............ ........11 Head subtended by an involucre of >5 green phyllaries; leaves with venation otherwise; flowers 5-merous |
............ ....9 Inflorescence otherwise, either of a solitary flower, or one of a wide variety of inflorescences with flowers attached at different points along branched or unbranched axes (e.g. axillary). {add: [ Lagerstroemia] LYTHRACEAE; [ Rosmarinus] LAMIACEAE; [ Laguncularia] COMBRETACEAE; [ Buxus] BUXACEAE; [ Exochorda] ROSACEAE; various other [see spreadsheet]} |
............ ..........12 Inflorescence flat-topped (broader than long), terminal, a compound cyme or corymb. |
............ ............ 13 Flowers bright yellow; stamens many; leaves < 1.5 cm wide; fruit a capsule; leaves with pellucid or dark punctate glands (use at least 10× magnification) |
............ ............ 13 Flowers white or creamy; stamens 4-5; leaves > 1.5 cm wide; fruit a drupe; leaves lacking sessile, punctate glands. |
............ ............ ..14 Petals 5; foliage with simple hairs |
............ ............ ..14 Petals 4; foliage with T-shaped hairs |
............ ..........12 Inflorescence either terminal and not flat-topped (longer than wide), or axillary and variously shaped, or terminal and solitary, or leaf-opposed. |
............ ............ ....15 Carpels many (> 9), either separate or fused; stamens many; perianth segments either many and undifferentiated into calyx and corolla, maroon, brown, or yellow (in CALYCANTHACEAE), or differentiated into a fleshy and persistent calyx of 5-9 sepals, and a deciduous corolla of 5-9 red (or white) petals ( Punica in LYTHRACEAE). |
............ ............ ......16 Fruit a wrinkled, 3-7 cm long, brown to black, elliptical aggregate of nearly spherical, large achenes; flowers solitary in axils; perianth segments many and undifferentiated into calyx and corolla, maroon, brown, or yellowish; ovary superior; branches unarmed |
............ ............ ......16 Fruit a leathery, 4-15 cm in diameter, reddish, spherical berry with obpyramidal seeds surrounded by a juicy sarcotesta (pomegranate); perianth differentiated, the sepals fleshy and persistent on the fruit, the petals deciduous, 5-9, bright red to white; ovary inferior; branches typically armed with axillary spines |
............ ............ ....15 Carpels 1-5, fused; stamens either 1-5 or 8-10; perianth segments 4-5 or 8, variously colored; fruit a simple capsule, drupe, or berry (including berry-like fruit); flowers 2-many, in axillary or terminal inflorescences (pistillate flowers sometimes solitary in SANTALACEAE and THESIACEAE); [Eudicots]. |
............ ............ ........17 Ovary inferior; corolla absent, radially symmetrical, or bilaterally symmetrical; fruit either a berry or a 1-seeded drupe. |
............ ............ ..........18 Flowers unisexual and plants dioecious; corolla absent; pistillate flowers solitary, staminate flowers in pedunculate umbels or cymes, either terminal or axillary; fruit a 1-seeded drupe; leaves acute to acuminate at the apex |
............ ............ ............ 19 Inflorescences terminal |
............ ............ ............ 19 Inflorescences axillary |
............ ............ ..........18 Flowers bisexual and plants hermaphroditic; corolla present; flowers paired, terminal or axillary, or in axillary spikes; fruit a berry; leaves rounded, obtuse, to acute (or acuminate in Lonicera maackii) at the apex |
............ ............ ........17 Ovary superior; corolla radially symmetrical (absent in Forestiera in OLEACEAE); fruit either a 1-4-seeded drupe, or a many-seeded berry (or berry-like fruit), or a capsule. |
............ ............ ............ ..20 Leaves with a conspicuous mix of silvery stellate hairs (upper) and rusty colored scales (lower); ovaries bearing rusty colored scales; flowers small, yellowish and inconspicuous; [nw. PA northward] |
............ ............ ............ ..20 Leaves glabrous or nearly so, lacking a conspicuous mix of stellate hairs adaxially and rusty scales abaxially; ovaries not bearing rusty colored scales; flowers of various size and color. |
............ ............ ............ ....21 Stamens 8-10, of 2 different lengths in each flower; petals separate, 4-5 (-7), pink purple, 10-15 mm long; stems strongly arching, rooting at the tips; [plants of flooded to saturated wetlands] |
............ ............ ............ ....21 Stamens either (1-) 2 (-4), or 4-5, or 10, all of the same length; petals fused (separate in RHAMNACEAE and BUXACEAE, but then < 5 mm long and white or cream), white, bright-yellow, lilac, or pink; stems erect (or at least not arching and rooting at the tips); [plants of various habitats]. |
............ ............ ............ ......22 Petals separate, 4-5, white or cream; stamens 4-5. |
............ ............ ............ ........23 Fruit a loculicidal capsule, dehiscing into 3 valves; branches square in ×-section; leaves < 2 cm long; [exotic, cultivated and weakly established, of temperate areas] |
............ ............ ............ ........23 Fruit a drupe with 2-4 pyrenes; branches round or nearly so in ×-section; leaves > 2 cm long; [natives, of peninsular FL] |
............ ............ ............ ......22 Petals fused, 4-5, white, bright yellow, lilac, or pink; stamens either (1-) 2 (-4) or 10; fruit either a capsule or a 1-seeded drupe. |
............ ............ ............ ..........24 Perianth 5-merous; corolla pink; stamens 10; fruit a 5-locular capsule |
............ ............ ............ ..........24 Perianth 4-merous; corolla white, bright yellow, or lilac; stamens (1-) 2 (-4); fruit either a 1-seeded drupe or a 2-locular capsule |