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1 Leaves evergreen. {add to 1a: Scaevola in GOODENIACEAE, Morella ( inodora) in MYRICACEAE, Ternstroemia in PENTAPHYLACACEAE, Myrsine in PRIMULACEAE, Pyracantha in ROSACEAE, Dodonaea in SAPINDACEAE, Cestrum in SOLANACEAE, Thymelaea in THYMELAEACEAE, Conocarpus in COMBRETACEAE} |
..2 Leaves 1-7 mm long, either acicular and spreading or ovate and appressed to the stems |
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....3 Leaves linear, > 15× as long as wide; [Monocots] |
....3 Leaves broader, < 15× as long as wide; [Eudicots, Basal Angiosperms, or Monocots]. |
......4 Plant a creeping subshrub, < 1 dm tall |
......4 Plant not creeping, > 3 dm tall. |
........5 Inflorescence an involucrate head |
........5 Inflorescence solitary ( Illicium in ILLICIACEAE) or variously branched, spicate, racemose, or fascicled, not an involucrate head. |
..........6 Carpels separate; fruit an aggregate; fresh foliage strongly fragrant; [Basal Angiosperms] |
............ 7 Fruit an aggregate of woody follicles arranged in a whorl |
............ 7 Fruit an aggregate of red to blackish berries, 4-6 mm long, each on a long stipe, giving the aggregate almost the appearance of an umbel |
..........6 Carpels fused; fruit a berry, drupe, acorn (nut), capsule, or legume; fresh foliage not strongly fragrant; [Eudicots, Monocots, and Basal Angiosperms]. |
............ ..8 Ovary with 3 carpels; fruit a berry; “leaves” actually cladodes; [Monocots] |
............ ..8 Ovary with 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 carpels; fruit a berry, drupe, capsule, legume, or nut; leaves actually leaves; [Eudicots and Basal Angiosperms]. |
............ ....9 Leaves largely covered with silver and/or bronze lepidote scales and/or dense stellate hairs below (visible at 10× or higher magnification), giving the lower leaf surface a slightly shiny to almost metallic appearance. {add Lyonia ferruginea and L. fruticosa in ERICACEAE; add Loropetalum in HAMAMELIDACEAE} |
............ ......10 Petals present, conspicuous, connate, white, the corolla rotate; fruit a berry with several seeds; fresh foliage with a strong, tar-like odor |
............ ......10 Petals absent or inconspicuous, greenish and separate if present (note that the calyx is petaloid and white or yellowish in Elaeagnus of ELAEAGNACEAE); fruit a dry capsule with 3 seeds, or a drupe with a single seed; fresh foliage lacking a strong odor. |
............ ........11 Perianth 4-merous; petals absent; petaloid sepals white to cream, fused and salverform; carpel 1; fruit a fleshy, red drupe, with a single seed |
............ ........11 Perianth 5-merous; petals green and separate, or absent; sepals greenish, separate; carpels 3; fruit a 3-valved capsule with 3 seeds |
............ ....9 Leaves with various vestiture (or glabrous), but not as above. |
............ ..........12 Flowers in spikes, these solitary opposite leaves or in axillary umbels |
............ ..........12 Flowers in other types of inflorescences, not spikes. |
............ ............ 13 Leaves 1-foliolate on the upper stems, sometimes 3-foliolate below, or all reduced to phyllodial spines; flowers papilionaceous, bright yellow; fruit a legume; stems bright green |
............ ............ 13 Leaves simple throughout; flowers either small, inconspicuous, tannish, borne in catkins ( Quercus), or larger and urceolate, or with almost separate and spreading petals, white to pink or reddish-orange, in various terminal or axillary, branched inflorescences; fruit either a nut in a cupule (an acorn), or a (3-) 5-valved capsule, or a spherical berry or drupe; stems generally brown or tan (sometimes green). |
............ ............ ..14 Flowers small, inconspicuous, tannish, borne in catkins; fruit a nut in a cupule (an acorn) |
............ ............ ..14 Flowers white to pink or reddish-orange, either urceolate or tubular or with separate and spreading petals, in various terminal or axillary inflorescences, or solitary; fruit either a (3-) 5-valved capsule, or a spherical berry with 10+ seeds, or a 1-8 seeded dry or fleshy drupe. |
............ ............ ....15 Flowers white to pink or reddish-orange, rotate or urceolate (the petals united at least basally), in various terminal or axillary inflorescences or solitary; fruit either a 2-5 valved capsule or a spherical berry with 10+ seeds. |
............ ............ ......16 Flowers reddish-orange; corollas bearing post-staminal hairs (appearing as tufts of hair opposite each anther) |
............ ............ ......16 Flowers white to pink; corollas without obvious tufts of hair opposite each anther. |
............ ............ ........17 Leaves 1 per node or also paired (on one side of the stem) at some nodes (the leaves then uneven in size); inflorescences leaf-opposed; fruit a berry. |
............ ............ ........17 Leaves 1 per node; inflorescences terminal or axillary, never leaf-opposed; fruit a valved capsule. |
............ ............ ..........18 Seeds without fleshy aril or attachment; ovaries 5-10 carpellate; flowers urceolate; leaves serrate or entire |
............ ............ ..........18 Seeds with fleshy aril or attachment; ovaries 2-4 carpellate; flowers rotate; leaves entire or very remotely serrulate. |
............ ............ ............ 19 Flowers few, not showy, green to greenish-white, inflorescence not densely arranged (flowers also sometimes solitary); capsules not beaked; leaves not revolute or undulate |
............ ............ ............ 19 Flowers numerous, showy, white; inflorescence densely arranged; capsules with short beak; leaf margins revolute or slightly undulate |
............ ............ ....15 Flowers white, petals spreading, separate even at the base, in axillary fascicles or racemes; fruit either a fleshy drupe with 4-8 pyrenes, or a dry single-seeded drupe. |
............ ............ ............ ..20 Shrub rhizomatous and colonial; fruit an ellipsoid drupe, 2-3 cm long |
............ ............ ............ ..20 Shrub not rhizomatous; fruit either a fleshy or dry drupe, < 1 cm long. |
............ ............ ............ ....21 Inflorescence an axillary fascicle or cluster; fruit a fleshy drupe with 4-8 pyrenes |
............ ............ ............ ....21 Inflorescence an axillary raceme; fruit a dry drupe with 1 seed |
1 Leaves deciduous. {add: Ditrysinia in EUPHORBIACEAE, Glochidion in PHYLLANTHACEAE, Phyllanthopsis in PHYLLANTHACEAE, Nierembergia in SOLANACEAE, Edgeworthia in THYMELAEACEAE, Ipomoea ( I. carnea) in CONVOLVULACEAE; Swida ( S. alternifolia) in CORNACEAE} |
............ ............ ............ ......22 Inflorescence an involucrate head |
............ ............ ............ ......22 Inflorescence branched, spicate, a catkin, or consisting of a solitary flower or axillary clusters or whorls, not an involucrate head. |
............ ............ ............ ........23 Inflorescence a catkin; flowers unisexual; plants dioecious |
............ ............ ............ ..........24 Leaves 3.5-6 cm wide |
............ ............ ............ ..........24 Leaves < 3 cm wide |
............ ............ ............ ........23 Inflorescence various, not a catkin; flowers bisexual; plants hermaphroditic. |
............ ............ ............ ............ 25 Inflorescences axillary, solitary flowers |
............ ............ ............ ............ ..26 Fruit a globose, spinose capsule bearing a longitudinal ridge across 1 or both faces, thus essentially resembling a spikey ball; perianth (4-)5-merous, consisting of 3 upper connate petaloid claws and two lower sessile petals; fresh plants without a strange musky odor; [Eudicots] |
............ ............ ............ ............ ..26 Fruit an oblong berry, greenish-yellow when ripe, not bearing small spines; perianth 3-4-merous, without connate petaloid claws; fresh plants fragrant with a strange, musky odor; [Basal Angiosperms] |
............ ............ ............ ............ 25 Inflorescence of 2 or more flowers; perianth 3-5-merous; fresh plants not musky-fragrant; fruits various, not as above. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ....27 Flowers 3-merous; fruit fleshy, red or greenish-yellow at maturity; ovary superior; [Basal Angiosperms or Eudicots]. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ......28 Leaves elliptic or narrowly elliptic, broadest near the middle; fresh plants strongly fragrant with a citrus-like aroma; stems unarmed; fruit a drupe, with a single seed |
............ ............ ............ ............ ......28 Leaves obovate or oblanceolate, broadest near the apex; stems armed with nodal spines; fresh plants not fragrant; fruit a berry, with several seeds. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ....27 Flowers 4-5-merous; fruit fleshy or dry, black, blue, brown, tan, or red at maturity; ovary superior or inferior; [Eudicots]. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ........29 Fruit a 4-5-valved capsule with many seeds; inflorescence either terminal, a corymb or panicle, or an axillary whorl |
............ ............ ............ ............ ........29 Fruit either a drupe or berry (indehiscent, and variously fleshy or dry) or a dry 3-valved capsule with 1 seed; inflorescence axillary (solitary, clusters, fascicles, or racemes), or in a terminal raceme ( Pyrularia in SANTALACEAE). |
............ ............ ............ ............ ..........30 Leaves largely covered with silver and/or bronze shiny lepidote scales below, giving the lower leaf surface an almost metallic appearance |
............ ............ ............ ............ ..........30 Leaves with various vestiture, but not as above. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 31 Ovary inferior or half-inferior; inflorescence an axillary cluster or raceme, or a terminal raceme. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ..32 Fruit a spherical berry, with 10 or more seeds |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ..32 Fruit an elongate drupe (definitely longer than thick), with 1 seed. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ....33 Fruit 15-30 mm long; inflorescence a terminal raceme |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ....33 Fruit 6-10 mm long; inflorescence an axillary fascicle |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 31 Ovary superior; inflorescence an axillary cluster or an axillary raceme (borne themselves in clusters). |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ......34 Fruits elongate, 8-20 mm long. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ........35 Fruit a red or orange berry, 8-20 mm long; leaves usually on spur-shoots; [salty coastal areas, or exotics of disturbed situations] |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ........35 Fruit a yellowish-green drupe, 12-15 mm long; leaves on main stems; [rich forests, mainly inland] |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ......34 Fruits spherical, < 10 mm long. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ..........36 Inflorescence a narrowly cylindrical raceme, clustered several to many at the tip of the previous year’s wood and below the current season’s growth; fruit < 3 mm in diameter |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ..........36 Inflorescence an axillary cluster; fruit > 4 mm in diameter |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 37 Fruit dry, opening by 3 valves, 1-seeded; leaf pubescence stellate |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 37 Fruit fleshy, with 4-8 seeds; leaf pubescence simple or absent. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ..38 Fruit yellow to red, the pedicel 10-30 mm long; leaf venation pinnate, but irregular and reticulated |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ..38 Fruit dark red to black, the pedicel < 10 mm long; leaf venation very neatly pinnate, with the secondary veins nearly straight and parallel to one another |
1 Leaves evergreen. {add to 1a: [ Conocarpus] COMBRETACEAE; [ Maytenus] CELASTRACEAE} |
..2 Leaves tiny, scale-like, broadest at the base and more or less clasping the stem, < 10 mm long and < 1 mm wide |
..2 Leaves larger and broader, > 40 mm long and > 8 mm wide. |
....3 Fruit a hesperidium; petiole flanged or winged for most of its length, constricted at the base of the blade (except linear in C. medica) |
....3 Fruit various (but not a hesperidium); petiole linear (not flanged or winged with leafy tissue). |
......4 Leaves pubescent with stellate hairs or peltate scales (sometimes hairs simple), or glandular punctate, appearing as translucent dots (best seen on lower leaf surfaces, with at least 10x magnification). |
........5 Leaves (fresh) strongly odorous, glandular-punctate (appearing as translucent dots), with strongly parallel venation; bark on medium-aged to mature trees papery and peeling |
........5 Leaves (fresh) not strongly fragrant, with stellate hairs or punctate scales, leaf venation various but not strongly parallel, bark various but not papery |
..........6 Vestiture of the lower leaf surface of silvery and/or reddish peltate scales; plants hermaphroditic, the flowers bisexual; fruit a fleshy drupe |
..........6 Vestiture of the lower leaf surface in part of stellate hairs (and also of simple acicular hairs and gland-tipped hairs); plants monoecious, the male flowers in yellow to brownish catkins, the female flowers solitary or in small spikes; fruit a nut in a cupule (an acorn) |
......4 Leaves glabrous, or if hairy, with strictly simple hairs. |
............ 7 Flowers solitary, terminal, large (> 5 cm in diameter); pistils many, carpels separate; petals many (typically > 8); leaves mostly > 10 cm long (at least some on a branch longer than 10 cm); fruit an aggregate of follicles, each dehiscing along 1 suture; stipule scar circumferential at each node, encircling the twig |
............ 7 Flowers either in axillary racemes, panicles, umbels, fascicles, or solitary, or in terminal corymbs, umbels, compound cymes, or racemes, small (< 5 cm in diameter); pistil 1, with 1-8 fused carpels; petals 3-8; leaves < 30 cm long; fruit either a drupe, berry, or capsule; stipule scars either absent or linear or triangular, not circumferentially encircling the twig. |
............ ..8 Inflorescence terminal, a corymb, umbel, compound cyme, or raceme; fruit either a capsule (dehiscing along 5 longitudinal sutures) or a few-seeded berry. |
............ ....9 Inflorescence a compound cyme; petals deep red to magenta; fruit a few-seeded drupe |
............ ....9 Inflorescence a corymb, umbel, or raceme; petals white or pink; fruit a capsule, opening by 5 longitudinal sutures. |
............ ......10 Capsules ovoid to globose or subglobose, about as long as broad, 5-8 mm long; leaves 5-12 cm long, 2-3× as long as wide |
............ ......10 Capsules elongate, > 2× as long as broad, 8-18 mm long; leaves 10-30 cm long, 3-5× as long as wide |
............ ..8 Inflorescence axillary, a raceme, panicle, umbel, fascicle, or solitary; fruit drupaceous, fleshy to dry, but not regularly dehiscent along sutures. |
............ ........11 Flowers solitary, axillary or superaxillary; perianth somewhat fleshy, in whorls of 3; carpels numerous, partly fused; fruit an aggregate syncarp |
............ ........11 Flowers in inflorescences of > 2 flowers; perianth not fleshy, in whorls of 4 or 5 (or 3 in Lauraceae); carpels 2, 3, 4, or 5, fused; fruit a capsule, drupe, or berry |
............ ..........12 Inflorescence an axillary raceme (with an elongate central axis, to which all flowers/fruits are attached). |
............ ............ 13 Fruit a dry, tan to brown, spherical or winged drupe; stamens 5 or 10; carpels 2-5; leaves oblanceolate (rarely narrowly elliptic), < 2.5 cm wide, the apex obtuse (more rarely acute, retuse, or rounded) |
............ ............ 13 Fruit a fleshy, black, spherical drupe; stamens 10; carpels 1; leaves elliptic, the apex acute to short-acuminate |
............ ..........12 Inflorescence either an axillary umbel or fascicle (or reduced to solitary) or an axillary compound inflorescence (panicle or compound cyme), with 2-3 orders of branching. |
............ ............ ..14 Fruit a fleshy and oily 1-seeded drupe; flowers 3-merous, with separate and undifferentiated perianth segments; fresh plants strongly aromatic; inflorescence compound, a panicle or compound cyme (with 2-3 orders of branching); [Basal Angiosperms] |
............ ............ ..14 Fruit a fleshy but not oily 1-8-seeded drupe or berry; flowers 4-8-merous, with differentiated sepals and petals, the petals usually basally fused; fresh plants not strongly aromatic; inflorescence an axillary umbel or fascicle (or reduced to solitary), a central axis absent or < 1 cm long; [Eudicots]. |
............ ............ ....15 Plants unarmed (or with marginal leaf prickles or spines); stamens 4-7, not epipetalous; fruit a drupe with 4-8 pyrenes;flowers 4-7-merous |
............ ............ ....15 Plants armed with nodal thorns; stamens 5 and staminodia 5, epipetalous; fruit a berry or drupe with 1 seed;flowers 5-merous |
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............ ............ ......16 Leaf base deeply to shallowly cordate, with 3-7 palmate veins from the base; leaf blade about as wide as long or a little longer, mostly 0.9-1.3× as long as wide. |
............ ............ ........17 Juncture of petiole and leaf blade with 2 red glands; corolla radially symmetrical, with 5-8 petals, white with red veins towards the base of the petals; flowers unisexual; fruit globose, 4-8 cm in diameter; main palmate leaf veins 3 (-5) |
............ ............ ........17 Juncture of petiole and leaf blade eglandular, but the uppermost 1-3 mm of the petiole swollen into a prominent upper pulvinus; corolla bilaterally symmetrical, with 5 petals, pink to purple (rarely white in some cultivars); flowers bisexual; fruit an oblong, flat legume, 6-10 cm long; main palmate leaf veins 5-7 (-9) |
............ ............ ......16 Leaf base cuneate, rounded, truncate, subcordate, or auriculate (with 2 small “earlobe-like” lobes at the base of the leaf blade), with 1 (mid) vein from the base (3 veins from the base in Celtis in CANNABACEAE); leaf blade about as wide as long, or somewhat to much longer, 0.9-10× as long as wide. |
............ ............ ..........18 Leaves 0.9-1.4× as long as wide (some taxa keyed in both leads). |
............ ............ ............ 19 Stipule scars circumferential, forming a line around the twig; flowers and aggregate fruits solitary, terminal; [Basal Angiosperms] |
............ ............ ............ 19 Stipule scars not circumferential (or not apparent); flowers and simple fruits in inflorescences of 1-many flowers, axillary or terminal, but not simultaneously solitary and terminal; [Eudicots]. |
............ ............ ............ ..20 Leaf blade 3-6 cm long, 1-1.5× as long as the flexuous petiole |
............ ............ ............ ..20 Leaf blade 4-30 cm long, > 3× as long as the stiff petiole. |
............ ............ ............ ....21 Petioles 1-5 (or more) cm long; leaves broadly orbicular, rounded at the base, usually rounded (rarely obtuse or nearly acute) at the apex, entire; hairs on foliage simple or absent; fruit a fleshy drupe |
............ ............ ............ ....21 Petioles < 1 cm long; leaves various in shape, often acuminate at the apex and/or cuneate at the base, often with some tendency to toothing; hairs on foliage stellate (use at least 10× magnification), at least in part; fruit either a nut borne in a cup (acorn) or a dry, subglobose 3-valved capsule, with 1 seed. |
............ ............ ............ ......22 Fruit a nut in a cupule (an acorn); flowers unisexual, greenish or brownish, individually inconspicuous, the male flowers borne in catkins |
............ ............ ............ ......22 Fruit a dry, subglobose 3-valved capsule, with 1 seed; flowers bisexual, white, conspicuous |
............ ............ ..........18 Leaves > 1.4× as long as wide. |
............ ............ ............ ........23 Leaves densely covered with silvery peltate scales (use 10× or greater magnification), giving the leaf blade surface a metallic appearance |
............ ............ ............ ........23 Leaves glabrous, glabrescent or variously pubescent (including densely and silkily so, giving the leaf surface a shiny appearance), but not as above. |
............ ............ ............ ..........24 Plants bearing nodal thorns; leaves elliptic to obovate, 3-9 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, 1.5-4× as long as wide. |
............ ............ ............ ............ 25 Sap clear, not viscous; sepals 4; petals 4, densely long-hairy on their upper (inner) side); fruit a yellow, 1-seeded drupe, 20-30 mm long; [FL southward] |
............ ............ ............ ............ 25 Sap milky or nearly clear but thick and sticky; sepals 5; petals 5, not densely long-hairy; fruit a black, 5-seeded berry, 5-15 mm long; [widespread in our area] |
............ ............ ............ ..........24 Plants unarmed (except spiny in Maclura in MORACEAE); leaves various in shape, from broadest towards the base, near the middle, or towards the apex, 3-80 cm long, 1-30 cm wide, 1.5-10× as long as wide. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ..26 Leaves distinctly widest near the base (at a point < 0.3× of the way from the base of the leaf blade to its apex), gradually long-tapering to an acuminate apex. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ....27 Fruit a spherical, dry drupe, 4-8 mm in diameter, with a single seed; leaf 1.5-6 cm wide |
............ ............ ............ ............ ....27 Fruit a spherical, fleshy multiple, 80-120 mm in diameter; leaf 5-8 cm wide |
............ ............ ............ ............ ..26 Leaves widest near the middle or towards the tip of the leaf blade (at a point > 0.4× of the way from the base of the leaf blade to its apex). |
............ ............ ............ ............ ......28 Pubescence of the foliage stellate (at least in part; simple hairs sometimes present as well); flowers unisexual, the individual flowers inconspicuous, male flowers in catkins; fruit a nut in a cupule (an acorn) |
............ ............ ............ ............ ......28 Pubescence of the foliage simple or absent (except stellate in STYRACACEAE); flowers bisexual, conspicuous, borne variously, but not in catkins (except in Leitneria); fruit various. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ........29 Leaf undersurface strongly whitened |
............ ............ ............ ............ ........29 Leaf surface green (often somewhat paler green than the upper surface, but not whitened). |
............ ............ ............ ............ ..........30 Flowers unisexual and borne in male and female catkins; plants dioecious |
............ ............ ............ ............ ..........30 Flowers bisexual, not borne in catkins; plants hermaphroditic. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 31 Flowers solitary; ovary superior; perianth either 3-merous and whorled or many-merous and spiraled; leaves mostly > 20 cm long and > 8 cm wide, distinctly broadest towards the apex (> 0.6× of the way from the leaf blade base to apex) (except Magnolia acuminata, which is sometimes both shorter, narrower, and broadest near the middle or towards the base); [Basal Angiosperms]. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ..32 Flowers axillary, < 2 cm across, brown or maroon; perianth 3-merous, whorled; fresh foliage with a strong musky odor; fruit a fleshy berry; leaves cuneate at the base; twigs lacking circumferential stipule scars at each node |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ..32 Flowers terminal, > 4 cm across, white, pale yellow, or pink; perianth many-merous, spiraled; fresh foliage not noticeably aromatic; fruit an aggregate of follicles; leaves cuneate or auriculate at the base; twigs with circumferential stipule scars at each node |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 31 Flowers in inflorescences of several to many; ovary inferior (or superior in Diospyros in EBENACEAE and Cyrilla in CYRILLACEAE); perianth 4-5-merous; leaves mostly < 20 cm long and < 10 cm wide, broadest near the middle or towards the apex; [Eudicots]. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ....33 Leaves with prominently parallel-arcing secondary veins; inflorescence a terminal corymb; leaves clustered at the tips of the twigs, thus appearing pseudo-whorled; trichomes of the leaf undersurface predominantly 2-branched (some simple) (use at least 10× magnification); flowers 4-merous; fruit a blue drupe; small tree |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ....33 Leaves with secondary veins more obscure and complexly branching into tertiary veins; inflorescence axillary (often on the previous year’s wood), solitary to variously fascicled, clustered, or in racemes; leaves arrayed distichously along horizontal or arching twigs, not prominently clustered or pseudo-whorled (except often in Cyrilla in CYRILLACEAE, Symplocos in SYMPLOCACEAE, and Nyssa in NYSSACEAE); trichomes of the leaf undersurface either simple or stellate (or absent); flowers 4-5-merous; fruit a green, blue, or black drupe, an orange berry, or a green to brownish indehiscent capsule; small to large tree. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ......34 Pubescence of foliage and other parts stellate (use at least 10× magnification); petals 4-5, white, 10-25 mm long; fruit dryish, indehiscent, either longitudinally 2-4-winged or not winged |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ......34 Pubescence of foliage and other parts simple; petals either 0, or 4-5 and pink, white, or greenish-yellow, or 10 and greenish-yellow; fruit either a somewhat to very fleshy drupe or berry or a dry, brownish, spherical drupe, 2-2.5 mm in diameter. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ........35 Leaves < 2.5 cm wide, dark green above, somewhat thickened, and tardily deciduous or semi-evergreen; fruit a dry, brownish, spherical drupe, 2-2.5 mm in diameter; inflorescence a narrowly cylindrical raceme with > 40 flowers |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ........35 Leaves > 2.5 cm wide, usually medium-green above, herbaceous in texture, promptly seasonally deciduous; fruit a somewhat to very fleshy drupe or berry, > 5 mm in diameter; inflorescence a solitary flower or cluster, head, or irregular raceme of < 15 flowers. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ..........36 Fruit a drupe (green when ripe), cylindrical to barrel-shaped, 8-12 mm long; leaves rather thick and leathery in texture, persistent into the winter, dropping tardily or at latest the following spring; flowers bisexual; stamens 30-50, in 5 fascicles |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ..........36 Fruit a berry (orange when ripe) or a drupe (blue-black, yellow, orange, or red when ripe), 8-50 mm long, spherical or ovoid to ellipsoid; leaves thin in texture, promptly deciduous in the autumn; flowers functionally unisexual; stamens 5-16, separate. |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 37 Fruit a spherical berry, 15-50 mm long, orange when ripe, subtended by the enlarged and persistent woody or leathery calyx; vascular bundles 1 per leaf scar; leaves never toothed; leaves whitish-green beneath; leaf midrib and upper petiole with tiny glands on their upper surfaces (reddish initially, then darkening) (use at least 10× magnification); leaves glabrate to tomentose with curly hairs beneath; female and male flowers on separate trees (dioecious); stamens 16; widest point of the leaf usually at the middle or below, the apex acute to acuminate |
............ ............ ............ ............ ............ ............ 37 Fruit an ovoid or ellipsoid drupe, 8-30 -40 mm long, blue-black, yellow, orange, or red when ripe; vascular bundles 3 per leaf scar; leaves sometimes bearing a few irregular teeth; leaves pale to medium green beneath; leaf midrib and upper petiole lacking reddish to dark glands on their upper surfaces; leaves glabrous or glabrate beneath; female and male flowers on the same tree (monoecious); stamens 5-12; widest point of the leaf usually beyond or at the middle, the apex obtuse to strikingly and abruptly acuminate |