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1 Plant a tree; petiole attachment to leaf blade peltate; leaves alternate; [tribe Cecropieae] |
1 Plant an herb; petiole attachment to leaf blade marginal; leaves alternate or opposite. |
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....3 Plant with stinging trichomes, these having a distinct bulbous or cylindrical base, and a stiff, translucent apex; [tribe Urticeae] |
....3 Plant without stinging trichomes (or these minute and not apparent), the non-stinging hairs (if present) soft and flexible, lacking a bulbous or cylindrical base. |
......4 Flowers in axillary spikes; foliage dull, yellow-green; leaves 3-veined from the base, the 2 main side veins reaching the margin about 2/3s of the way from blade base to blade tip, the midvein with 1-2 or more prominent secondary veins borne near or past the midpoint and at a sharply acute angle to the midvein, these arching to the leaf margin; [tribe Boehmerieae] |
......4 Flowers in axillary panicles or fascicles; foliage shiny, bright green; leaves 3-veined from the base, the 2 main side veins extending to the apex of the blade, the midvein with many secondary veins borne along its length at a nearly right angle, and connecting to the 2 main side veins rather than reaching the leaf margin; [tribe Lecantheae] |
..2 Leaves alternate (at least above, if not throughout). |
........5 Leaves toothed; plant either with or without stinging trichomes. |
..........6 Flowers in axillary spikes; woody herb to 4 m tall, without stinging trichomes; leaf undersurfaces white-pubescent; [tribe Boehmerieae] |
..........6 Flowers in terminal or axillary panicles; herb to 1.5 m tall, with stinging trichomes; leaf undersurfaces green; [tribe Urticeae] |
........5 Leaves entire; plants without stinging trichomes. |
............ 7 Stipules absent; [tribe Parietarieae] |
............ 7 Stipules present; [tribe Boehmerieae] |
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..2 Lianas climbing by adventitious roots |
..2 Lianas climbing by twining or by tendrils. |
....3 Lianas climbing by twining |
....3 Lianas climbing by tendrils. |
......4 Tendrils branched, leaf-opposed; leaves mostly 5-7-lobed, the margins also serrate or dentate |
......4 Tendrils simple (though paired in Smilax in SMILACACEAE), axillary; leaves 3-lobed, the margins entire, serrulate, or prickly. |
........5 Leaves longer than wide, entire or prickly-margined; stems usually obviously armed with prickles; flowers 6-merous, greenish, in umbels borne in leaf axils; tendrils stipular, 2 per leaf axil, adnate to the petiole basally |
........5 Leaves wider than long, entire or serrulate; stems not armed; flowers 5-merous, blue-purple or yellow, solitary or in small fascicles in leaf axils; tendrils 1 per leaf axil |
1 Trees or shrubs. {add: Vernicia in EUPHORBIACEAE, Firmiana in MALVACEAE, Kalopanax in ARALIACEAE, Ficus in MORACEAE} |
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............ 7 Leaves > 3 dm long and wide; tree monopodial, with a single, unbranched stem (rarely with a few branches). |
............ ..8 Leaf lobes > 15, not sublobed; venation of each lobe parallel; fruit a drupe, with 1 seed; [Monocots] |
............ ..8 Leaf lobes < 13, most of these sublobed; venation of each lobe pinnate; fruit either a many-seeded berry or a single-seeded nutlet; [Eudicots]. |
............ ....9 Petiole attachment marginal; leaf lobes mostly sublobed; fruit a large berry, with many seeds |
............ ....9 Petiole attachment peltate; leaf lobes not sublobed; fruit an nutlet, single-seeded |
............ 7 Leaves < 3 dm long and wide; tree branching; [Eudicots]. |
............ ......10 Leaves 2-lobed (deeply notched at the apex, each lobe separated by the midvein, asymmetrical; [peninsular FL and s. TX] |
............ ......10 Leaves 3-5 (-7) lobed; [collectively widespread]. |
............ ........11 Leaf blades (3-) 5 (-7) lobed, to 15 cm wide and long, each lobe finely serrate-crenate (>3 teeth per cm of margin) and rarely with a small sub-lobe; multiple fruit spherical and spiky, consisting of multiple bird-beak-like loculicidal capsules; buds axillary |
............ ........11 Leaves 3 (-5)-lobed, to 35 cm wide and long, each lobe coarsely toothed or sublobed, the teeth or sublobes (at most 1-2 per cm of margin) attenuate-acuminate; multiple fruit spherical and merely rough on the surface, consisting of multiple achenes with tawny bristles; buds infrapetiolar (completely hidden in the swollen petiole base) |
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............ ..........12 Leaf lobe margins entire (or undulate to sublobed at the tip) |
............ ..........12 Leaf lobe margins serrate. |
............ ............ 13 Leaves glabrous |
............ ............ 13 Leaves pubescent (slightly or strongly). |
............ ............ ..14 Pubescence of simple hairs; plants armed or not with nodal spines |
............ ............ ....15 Leaves 10-30 cm long and wide; fruit a berry; inflorescence of solitary to a few flowers, or a raceme |
............ ............ ....15 Leaves 2-10 cm long and wide; fruit an aggregate of drupelets; inflorescence a cyme |
............ ............ ..14 Pubescence of stellate hairs; plants unarmed. |
............ ............ ......16 Leaves > 30 cm wide |
............ ............ ......16 Leaves < 15 cm wide |