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1 Flowers sessile, axillary; plants to 4 cm tall; petals absent; sepals fused into a cuplike hypanthium |
1 Flowers either (1-) 5-50+ in terminal corymbose cymes, or if solitary and axillary on pedicels 10-40 mm long; petals present or (in Sabulina fontinalis) absent; sepals separate. |
2 Flowers solitary in leaf axils; petals absent; [ calcareous seepage, KY, TN, n. AL] |
2 Flowers (1-) 5-50+ in terminal corymbose cymes; petals present. |
3 Sepals acute to acuminate at the tip; sepal venation prominently 3- or 5-veined, or (in Geocarpon nuttallii) obscure. |
4 Plants perennial from woody crowns; leaves rigid, with axillary fascicles; pedicels glabrous |
4 Plants either annual or perennial from slender wintering stems; leaves flexuous, lacking axillary fascicles; pedicels sparsely to densely stipitate- glandular. |
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5 Stems erect, leafy mostly near the base, the stem leaves few in number and reduced in size upward; [of moist to dry upland habitats]. |
6 Sepals 3-nerved; leaves narrowly lanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, (0.6-) 1.5-3.2 mm wide; seeds 0.7-0.9 mm long, the surface appearing pebbled or with short papillae, black |
6 Sepals 5-nerved or 5- ribbed; leaves narrowly oblinear to linear, 0.5-1.5 (-1.8) mm wide; seeds 0.5-0.7 mm long, the surface tuberculate, reddish brown to black |
3 Sepals obtuse or rounded at the tip; sepal venation obscure. |
7 Leaves rigid, closely imbricated, with axillary fascicles of leaves; pedicels densely stipitate- glandular; plants perennial from a very long and deep, woody taproot; [ xeric sands; Coastal Plain NY to FL Panhandle] |
7 Leaves flexuous, not imbricated, lacking axillary fascicles of leaves; pedicels either glabrous or (in Geocarpon nuttallii) stipitate- glandular; plants either annual or perennial from a basal mat of offshoots, taproots filiform; [thin soils over rock outcrops; inland provinces]. |
8 Pedicels stipitate- glandular; [west of the Mississippi River in AR, LA, OK, and TX] |
8 Pedicels glabrous; [east of the Mississippi River]. |
9 Leaves oblanceolate, 1-3 mm wide, very thin in texture and prominently though minutely veined; flowers in cymes of mostly 1-3 flowers; [shaded Cumberland Plateau rockhouses of s. KY and n. TN] |
9 Leaves linear, mostly < 1 mm wide, thicker in texture, then veins not readily apparent; flowers in cymes of mostly 3-25+ flowers; [collectively of sunny thin-soil-over-rock habitats of the Piedmont and Appalachians]. |
10 Seeds 0.4-0.6 mm long, suborbicular, lacking an adaxial groove; petals oblanceolate, not clawed |
10 Seeds 0.5-0.8 mm long, obliquely triangular, with an adaxial groove; petals clawed, broadly obovate. |
11 Plants annual, 10-20 cm tall (thus populations often consisting of many single stemmed individuals); cymes mostly 9-15-flowered; sepals 3-4 mm long; petals 4-6 (-8) mm long; [of Piedmont and low mountain granitic flatrocks and other outcrops] |
11 Plants perennial from a basal mat of offshoots, 5-10 (-15) cm tall (thus populations often consisting of multi-stemmed clumps); cymes mostly 3-7-flowered; sepals 3.5-5.5 mm long; petals 6-10 mm long; [of mountain peaks and Piedmont monadnocks] |
1 Flowers solitary in leaf axils; petals absent; [ calcareous seepage, KY, TN, n. AL] |
1 Flowers (1-) 5-50+ in terminal corymbose cymes; petals present. |
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2 Stems erect, leafy mostly near the base, the stem leaves few in number and reduced in size upward; [of moist to dry upland habitats]. |
3 Seed surface pebbled- papillose; mature leaves narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate, 1.5-3 mm wide; sepal nerves 3 |
3 Seed surface tuberculate with low ridges, resembling a brain; mature leaves linear, < 1.5 mm wide; sepal nerves 3 or 5. |
4 Plants perennial from woody crowns; leaves rigid, with axillary fascicles; stem and inflorescence axes strictly glabrous; sepal nerves 3 |
4 Plants either annual or perennial from slender wintering stems; leaves flexuous, lacking axillary fascicles; stem and inflorescence variously stipitate- glandular to glabrous, sepal nerves 3 or 5. |
5 Sepal nerves 3 (occasionally weakly 5), widely spaced, not appearing ribbed; inflorescences divaricately-branching at maturity, forming a diffuse tangled mound in robust specimens; seeds 0.8-0.9 mm across; flowering time centered May through June |
5 Sepal nerves 5, typically closely spaced and appearing elevated and ribbed (widely spaced in some specimens); inflorescences ascending to spreading at maturity; seeds 0.5-0.7 (-0.75) mm across; flowering time centered April through May |