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| 1 Sepal lobes with a long (0.5-2.1+ mm long) awn attached at or below their apices. |
| ..2 Sepal awns white. |
| ....3 Sepal awns spinose, in the general plane of the sepal, 0.9-2.0 mm long; plants perennial; [inland provinces of AL, GA, KY, NC, TN, VA, WV] |
| ....3 Sepal awns broadly conical, divergent from the plane of the sepal (angled outwards); plants annual or biennial; [Coastal Plain of LA, TX, and OK]. |
| ......4 Stems erect; sepal awns 0.5-0.6 mm long, glabrous; [w. LA, se. OK, south to e. TX] |
| ......4 Stems prostrate; sepal awns 0.3-0.4 mm long, scabrous; [s. TX] |
| ..2 Sepal awns green to brown or yellow. |
| ........5 Leaf apices conspicuously mucronate; leaves elliptic to ovate or spatulate, 1-6 mm wide, 2-4× as long as wide; [Coastal Plain of NC, SC, GA, AL, and FL] |
| ........5 Leaf apices not conspicuously mucronate (if submucronate as in P. lindheimeri, then leaves also linear to filiform), but otherwise obtuse, acute, or minutely cuspidate; leaves linear or subulate, 0.3-1 mm wide, 10-20+× as long as wide; [west of the Mississippi River, or disjunct eastwards in the inland provinces of AL, GA, VA, WV, MD, and DC]. |
| ..........6 Stems herbaceous; plants annual, biennial, or perennial; [TX]. |
| ............ 7 Stems glabrous to minutely puberulent; terminal flower clusters 0.5-1.5 mm wide, the calyces extending past the subtending bracts; [mainly of limestone soils on the Edwards Plateau and adjacent areas] |
| ............ 7 Stems strongly hispid or puberulent; terminal flower clusters 3-15 mm wide, the subtending bracts exceeding the calyces; [mainly of Coastal Plain sands in e., se., and s. TX]. |
| ............ ..8 Sepal lobe margins yellow and scarious; plants perennial; [s. TX (Brooks, Jim Hogg, Kenedy, Kleberg counties] |
| ............ ..8 Sepal lobe margins white and scarious; plants annual or biennial; [e. and se. TX] |
| ..........6 Stems woody, from a tough, dense caudex; plants strongly perennial and long-lived, with old stems apparent; [collectively more widespread, including TX]. |
| ............ ....9 Calyx (not including the awn) 1-3-1.8 mm long, broadly rounded, with no apparent veins |
| ............ ....9 Calyx (not including the awn) 2.0-2.9 mm long, lanceolate-triangular, with the midvein and 2 lateral veins prominent. |
| ............ ......10 Sepals densely pubescent; calyx+awn (3.3-) avg. 4.2 (-5.4) long; sepal awns (0.4-) avg. 0.8 (-1.5) mm long, densely pubescent; sepal awns moderately to extremely back-curved; stems and leaves moderately to densely (and uniformly) pubescent; [sw. MO and AR south to e. and c. TX and COA] |
| ............ ......10 Sepals glabrous; calyx+awn (3.0-) avg. 3.8 (-4.9) mm long; sepal awns (0.2-) avg. 0.6 (-1.1) mm long, glabrous; sepal awns with little or no back-curvature; stems and leaves glabrous to minutely pubescent, the stem hairiness (when present) mainly isolated to near-nodal portions of the stem; [disjunctly scattered east of thr Mississippi River, in c. AL, ec. GA, w. VA, e. WV, DC, and sc. & w. MD] |
| 1 Sepal lobes rounded or with a short (< 0.3 mm long) mucro or cusp. |
| ............ ........11 Sepals petaloid, the tip, margins, or entire sepal whitish; perigynous zone very well developed (mostly equaling or somewhat longer than the sepals); [of the Coastal Plain, from SC southward and westward]; [subgenus Siphonychia]. |
| ............ ..........12 Sepals glabrous to the base; plant a cespitose perennial with ascending annual stems; [gulf coastal plain dunes and coastal Pinus elliottii scrubby flatwoods]; flowers borne in distinctly geometric cymes |
| ............ ............ 13 Stems minutely gray-puberulent, hypanthium minutely pubescent |
| ............ ............ 13 Stems glabrous and often also glaucous, hypanthium glaucous |
| ............ ..........12 Sepals densely pubescent on the basal portion (glabrous above); plant a sprawling, ascending or erect annual OR a sprawling thick tap-rooted perennial (P. discoveryi; the flowers borne in or not borne in distinctly geometric cymes. |
| ............ ............ ..14 Sepal apices not mucronate, instead broadly rounded or truncate; sepals forming a broadly rounded or dilated hood; CHECK THIS BUT: Pubescent portion of the sepal nearly ½ its length; sepals broadly rounded and hooded; stem glabrous to glabrate, finely retrorse-pubescent, or one side with curly hairs. |
| ............ ............ ....15 Plants diffuse annuals with slender taproots, the taproots of similar width or only slightly thicker than the primary stem; flowers 1-1.5 mm long; sepal lobes widely obovate (due to broadly distinct apical dilation), flowers appearing more broadly rounded (and obscurely or not strongly 5-angled) due to lack of conspicuously raised marginal coasta; [south-central SC s. to FL, w. to AL] |
| ............ ............ ....15 Plants (often) mat-forming perennials with thick taproots, the taproots much thicker than the primary stem; flowers 1.4-2.2 mm long; sepal lobes oblong; flower bases appearing 5-angled due to conspicuously raised marginal costa; [endemic to eastern and central Florida] |
| ............ ............ ..14 Sepal apices mucronate; sepals not forming a broadly rounded or dilated hood. Pubescent portion of the sepal <1/3 its length; sepals narrowed toward the apex, with a short tooth or awn; stem uniformly pubescent with retrorse hairs. |
| ............ ............ ......16 Stem spreading or ascending, the branching unevenly dichotomously, the flowers therefore in diffuse cymes, flowers 1.2-2.2 mm long; glabrous portion of the sepal 0.8 mm long, sepal lobes oblong, the apices broad to nearly truncate (besides the mucro) |
| ............ ............ ......16 Stem erect, the branching symmetrical and dichotomous, the flowers therefore in weirdly geometric, tight square cymes, flowers 2.3-3.5 mm long; glabrous portion of the sepal > 1.1 mm long, sepal lobes long acuminate and slender, the apices acute to narrowly rounded (besides the mucro) |
| ............ ........11 Sepals not petaloid, green, sometimes scarious-margined; perigynous zone somewhat shorter than the sepals; [of various provinces, collectively widespread in our area]; [subgenus Paronychia]. |
| ............ ............ ........17 Leaves with a distinctly ciliate margin; plants prostrate. |
| ............ ............ ..........18 Plant an annual (-biennial); stems 1-4 dm long, uniformly and minutely recurved-puberulent; flowers 1.25-1.4 mm long, shortly ciliate to nearly glabrous; sepals ca. 1 mm long, oval-oblong, the margin ciliolate; style 0.4-0.5 mm long, bifid; fruit rounded at the top |
| ............ ............ ..........18 Plant a perennial; stems 2-12 dm long, glabrous or minutely puberulent in longitudinal bands; flowers 1.45-1.55 mm long, more or less glabrous; sepals 1-1.2 mm long, oblong, with a brownish margin; style 0.35-0.4 mm long, the 2 lobes divergent-recurved at maturity; fruit narrowed to the top |
| ............ ............ ........17 Leaves entirely glabrous or with a slightly ciliate-serrulate margin; plants erect, suberect, or somewhat prostrate. |
| ............ ............ ............ 19 Flowers 3, 4, or 5-merous, 0.5-0.8 mm long; plants often exhibiting sexual dimorphism or polygamodioecy (male plants more openly branched and trailing; female or hermaphroditic plants more densely matted with shorter, somewhat erect branches); [endemic to sandy lake margins or scrub of Florida]. |
| ............ ............ ............ ..20 Leaves 0.5-1.5 mm wide; cymes 3-20 mm wide; stem base 1-4.2 mm wide; [endemic to c. FL scrub and similar xeric habitats] |
| ............ ............ ............ ..20 Leaves 1.2-3 mm wide; cymes 1.5-4 mm wide; stem base 0.4-1.5 mm wide; [endemic to sandy draw-down zones of lake margins in Washington and Bay counties, FL] |
| ............ ............ ............ 19 Flowers 5-merous, 0.9-1.6 mm long; plants not sexually dimorphic, usually somewhat erect; [c. MS, AL, and GA north and westwards, habitats various]. |
| ............ ............ ............ ....21 Style elongate, 0.6-0.75 mm long, often bent; anthers 0.25-0.3 mm in diameter; stipular bracts subtending the flowers narrowly lanceolate, ca. 0.5× as long as the flowers |
| ............ ............ ............ ....21 Style short, 0.3-0.35 mm long, straight; anthers ca. 0.15 mm in diameter; stipular bracts subtending the flowers lanceolate, from much shorter than to exceeding the flowers. |
| ............ ............ ............ ......22 Stems glabrous; sepals herbaceous, 0.5-1 mm long; sepal apices mucronate; leaves oval-elliptic, 5-25 mm long, 2-8 (-10) mm wide, obtuse (rarely sub-obtuse or acute), very thin in texture, deep-green |
| ............ ............ ............ ......22 Stems retrorsely puberulent (sometimes sparsely so); sepals leathery, 1-1.2 mm long; leaves oblanceolate, 5-15 mm long, 2-5 mm wide, acute (rarely sub-obtuse to obtuse), firm in texture, dull brownish-green. |
| ............ ............ ............ ........23 Stipular bracts subtending the flowers exceeding the flowers (calyx) |
| ............ ............ ............ ........23 Stipular bracts subtending the flowers somewhat shorter than the flowers (calyx). |
| ............ ............ ............ ..........24 Sepals with a minute cusp or mucro |
| ............ ............ ............ ..........24 Sepals with a distinct white awn to 0.2 mm long |