Flower Color

• Yellow

Inflorescence Type (How the flowers are arranged on the plant)

• Axillary racemes
• Terminal raceme

Number of Petals

• 5 petals

Petal Separation

• Completely free to base
• United > 75% of length

Petal Tip

• Bilobed
• Rounded

Flower Symmetry

• Flowers strongly irregular

Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)

• 7 mm (.28 inch)
• 8 mm (.32 inch)
• 9 mm (.36 inch)
• 1.0 cm (.40 inch)

Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)

• 5 mm (.20 inch)
• 6 mm (.24 inch)
• 7 mm (.28 inch)
• 8 mm (.32 inch)
• 9 mm (.36 inch)
• 1.0 cm (.40 inch)

Number of Sepals

• 5 sepals

Sepal Separation

• United at base < 25% length

Sepal Tip

• Pointed

Flower Sex

• Bisexual (perfect)

Number of Styles

• 1 style

Number of Stamens

• 10 stamens

Stamens Attached to the Petals

• Stamens NOT attached to the petals

Stamens Connate (united)

• Filaments united, monodelphous

Carpel Separation

• Carpels united (or one)

Number of Carpels

• 1 carpel

Ovary Position

• Superior (hypogynous)

Fruit Type

• Capsule, 1-celled
• Legume

Fruit Length at Maturity

• 2.0 cm (.80 inch)
• 2.5 cm (1.0 inch)
• 3.0 cm (1.2 inches)
• 3.5 cm (1.4 inches)

Fruit Width at Maturity

• 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
• 1.5 cm (.60 inch)
• 2.0 cm (.80 inch)

Burs

• Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement

• Alternate

Leaf Type

• Simple (including lobed leaves)

Stipules

• Foliaceous 2-4 mm (.08 - .16 in) long
• Foliaceous 4-10 mm (.16 - .40 in) long

Tendrils

• Tendrils absent

Venation

• Pinnate

Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio

• Petiole absent (leaf sessile)
• Petiole < 25% total length

Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)

• 1 - 2 cm (.40 - .80 inch)
• 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.60 inches)
• 4 - 10 cm (1.60 - 4.0 inches)

Leaf Width

• 1 - 5 mm (.04 - .20 inch)
• 5 - 10 mm (.20 - .40 inch)
• 1 - 2 cm (.40 - .80 inch)

Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)

• Elliptic
• Lanceolate
• Linear or filiform

Leaf or Leaflet Margin

• Entire
• Ciliate

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base

• Acute (cuneate)
• Oblique
• Rounded

Leaf or Leaflet Tip

• Acute
• Mucronate
• Rounded (obtuse)

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface

• Pubescent
• Sericeous or villous (silky)
• Villous or sericious (silky)

Succulence

• Not succulent

Milky Juice

• Juice NOT milky (watery)

Woodiness

• Herbaceous

Spines or Thorns

• Spines or Thorns ABSENT

Aromatic (vegetative structures)

• Not aromatic

Life Cycle

• Annual

Growth Habit (while flowering)

• Spreading ascending
• Erect, columnar (narrow)
• Erect, spherical (bushy)

Plant Height at Maturity

• 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
• 2 - 4 dm (8.0 - 16.0 inches)

Wind Dissemination

• Not wind disseminated
• Fruit, seed, or spore wind borne

Moisture Regime

• Mesic
• Arid

Chlorophyll

• Present

Stem Cross Section

• Round

Flowering Stem Leaves

• Stem uniformly leafy

Main Stem Branches

• Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule

• Tap Root

US State

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Missouri
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• New Jersey
• New York
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Virginia
• Wisconsin
• West Virginia
• Indiana
• Maryland
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Arizona
• Iowa
• Minnesota
• Oklahoma
• South Dakota
• Nebraska

Other

• Puerto Rico
• District of Columbia

• Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 278, 284
• Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 X
• Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X