Flower Color

• Green
• White

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

• Axillary racemes
• Head
• Panicle

Number of Petals

• 0 (no petals)
• 5 petals
• more than 10 petals

Petal Separation

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

Petal Tip

• Pointed

Flower Symmetry

• Flowers regular

Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)

• 1 mm (.04 inch)
• 2 mm (.08 inch)
• 3 mm (.12 inch)
• 4 mm (.16 inch)

Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)

• 1 mm (.04 inch)
• 2 mm (.08 inch)
• 3 mm (.12 inch)
• 4 mm (.16 inch)
• 5 mm (.20 inch)

Number of Sepals

• sepals lacking
• 5 sepals
• 10 sepals

Sepal Separation

• Completely free to base

Sepal Tip

• Rounded
• Square

Flower Sex

• Unisexual (monoecious or dioecious)

Number of Styles

• Styles lacking (male flowers only)
• 1 style

Number of Stamens

• stamens lacking (female flowers only)
• 5 stamens

Stamens Attached to the Petals

• Stamens attached to the petals

Stamens Connate (united)

• Anthers united, syngynoecious

Carpel Separation

• Carpels united (or one)

Number of Carpels

• 0 (male flowers only or plants producing spores)
• 1 carpel

Ovary Position

• Inferior (epigynous)

Fruit Type

• Achene

Fruit Length at Maturity

• 2 mm (.08 inch)
• 3 mm (.12 inch)
• 4 mm (.16 inch)

Fruit Width at Maturity

• 1 mm (.04 inch) or less
• 2 mm (.08 inch)
• 3 mm (.12 inch)

Burs

• Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement

• Alternate
• Opposite
• Opposite below, alternate above

Leaf Type

• Simple (including lobed leaves)

Stipules

• Lacking

Tendrils

• Tendrils absent

Venation

• Palmate
• Pinnate

Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio

• Petiole 25% - 75% total length

Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)

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

Leaf Width

• 4 - 10 cm (1.6 - 4.0 inches)
• 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)

Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)

• Ovate
• Palmately 3 lobed

Leaf or Leaflet Margin

• Dentate
• Lobed
• Serrate

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base

• Acute (cuneate)
• Rounded

Leaf or Leaflet Tip

• Acuminate (attenuate)
• Acute

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface

• Puberulent
• Pubescent
• Scabrous (like sand paper)
• 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
• Aromatic

Life Cycle

• Annual

Growth Habit (while flowering)

• Erect, columnar (narrow)

Plant Height at Maturity

• 8 - 10 dm (2.6 - 3.3 feet)
• 1 - 1.5 meters (3.3 - 5.0 feet)
• 1.5 - 2.0 meters (5.0 - 6.6 feet)
• 2 - 2.5 meters (6.6 - 8.3 feet)

Wind Dissemination

• Not wind disseminated

Moisture Regime

• Seasonally saturated
• Mesic

Chlorophyll

• Present

Stem Cross Section

• Hollow (flowering stem at maturity)
• Round

Flowering Stem Leaves

• Stem uniformly leafy

Main Stem Branches

• Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule

• Tap Root

US State

• Connecticut
• Illinois
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Massachusetts
• Maine
• Michigan
• Missouri
• North Carolina
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Texas
• Virginia
• Wisconsin
• West Virginia
• Indiana
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Arizona
• Colorado
• Iowa
• Idaho
• Minnesota
• Montana
• North Dakota
• New Mexico
• Nevada
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Washington
• Wyoming
• Nebraska

Canadian Province or Territory

• British Columbia
• New Brunswick
• Nova Scotia
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Quebec
• Alberta
• Manitoba
• Saskatchewan

Other

• District of Columbia

• An Illustrated Guide To Arizona Weeds, 1972 (ISBN 0-8165-0288-9) 338 pages. See page: 308
• Common Weeds of Canada, Mulligan 1987 (ISBN 0-910053-59-9) See page: 121
• Common Weeds of the Canadian Prairies, 1963 (Cat# A53-1136-1) See page: 43
• Common Weeds of the United States, 1971 (ISBN 0-486-20504-5) See page: 422
• Common Weed Seedlings of the United States and Canada, 1978 Coop Ext. Univ. of Georgia, Athens, See page: 14
• Field Guide To The Common Weeds Of Kansas, 1983 (ISBN 0-7006-0233-X) See page: 121
• Fifty Important Weeds of Montana, Montana Ag. Ext. Service, 1920. 126 pages. See page: 56
• Gilkey`s Weeds of the Pacific Northwest, 1980 (ISBN 0-88246-039-0) See page: 315, 316
• How to Know the Weeds, 1972, (ISBN# 0-697-04880-2) See page: 162
• Nebraska Weeds, 1979 Nebraska Dept. of Ag., Lincoln NE, See page: 252
• Northwest Weeds, 1990 (ISBN 0-87842-249-8) See page: 137
• South Dakota Weeds, 1967 South Dakota State University, See page: 167
• South Dakota Weeds 2002 South Dakota Dept. of Ag. 523 E. Capitol, Foss Bldg. Pierre, South Dakota 57501 See page: 179
• Weed Seeds of the Great Plains, 1993 University of Kansas# 92-125-B ISBN# 0-7006-0651-3 See index #: 231
• Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 480, 481
• Weeds and Poisonous Plants of Wyoming and Utah 1987 (ISBN 0-941570-06-1) See page: 196
• Weeds of Canada, 1970 Canada Dept. of Ag., Pub. # 948, See page: 165
• Weeds of Colorado, 1990 Cooperative Extension, Colorado State Univ. Bulletin 521A, See page: 162
• Weeds of Eastern Washington and Adjacent Areas, 1972 (LOC 72-83635) See page: 306
• Weeds of the Midwestern United States & Central Canada, University of Georgia 2010, ISBN#0-8203-3506-1 See page: 110
• Weeds of the North Central States, 1981 Univ. of Illinois, Urbana - Champaign Bulletin # 772, See page: 222
• Weeds of the Northern United States and Canada, 1964 Montgomery See page: 187
• Weeds of the Northern U.S, and Canada, 1999 Royer and Dickinson, (ISBN# 1-55105-221-0) See page: 43
• Weeds of the West, 1992 (ISBN 0941570-13-4) See page: 148
• Weeds of the West, 2000 (ISBN 0941570-13-4) See page: 150
• Weeds of Utah, 1971 UAES Special Report 21, See page: 101
• Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 X
• Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X