Flower Color

• Red (or pink)

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

• Cyme (simple or branched)

Number of Petals

• 5 petals

Petal Separation

• Completely free to base

Petal Tip

• Erose
• Rounded
• Toothed

Flower Symmetry

• Flowers regular

Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)

• 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
• 1.5 cm (.6 inch)
• 2.0 cm (.8 inch)

Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)

• 4 mm (.16 inch)
• 5 mm (.20 inch)
• 6 mm (.24 inch)
• 7 mm (.28 inch)
• 8 mm (.32 inch)

Number of Sepals

• 5 sepals

Sepal Separation

• United > 75% of length

Sepal Tip

• Pointed

Flower Sex

• Bisexual (perfect)

Number of Styles

• 2 styles

Number of Stamens

• 10 stamens

Stamens Attached to the Petals

• Stamens NOT attached to the petals

Stamens Connate (united)

• Filaments or anthers NOT united

Carpel Separation

• Carpels united (or one)

Number of Carpels

• 1 carpel

Ovary Position

• Superior (hypogynous)

Fruit Type

• Capsule, 1-celled

Fruit Length at Maturity

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

Fruit Width at Maturity

• 4 mm (.16 inch)
• 5 mm (.20 inch)
• 6 mm (.24 inch)

Burs

• Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement

• Opposite

Leaf Type

• Simple (including lobed leaves)

Stipules

• Lacking

Tendrils

• Tendrils absent

Venation

• Pinnate

Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio

• Petiole absent (leaf sessile)

Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)

• 4 - 10 cm (1.60 - 4.0 inches)

Leaf Width

• 1 - 5 mm (.04 - .20 inch)

Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)

• Linear or filiform

Leaf or Leaflet Margin

• Entire

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base

• Clasping

Leaf or Leaflet Tip

• Acuminate (attenuate)
• Acute

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface

• Glabrous (NO hairs)

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
• Biennial

Growth Habit (while flowering)

• Erect, columnar (narrow)

Plant Height at Maturity

• 2 - 4 dm (8.0 - 16.0 inches)
• 4 - 6 dm (1.3 - 2.0 feet)

Wind Dissemination

• Not wind disseminated

Moisture Regime

• Mesic
• Arid

Chlorophyll

• Present

Stem Cross Section

• Round

Flowering Stem Leaves

• Stem leaves greatly reduced
• Stem uniformly leafy

Main Stem Branches

• Main stem unbranched
• Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule

• Fibrous
• Tap Root

US State

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Massachusetts
• Maine
• Michigan
• Missouri
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Virginia
• Wisconsin
• West Virginia
• Hawaii
• Indiana
• Maryland
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• California
• Colorado
• Iowa
• Idaho
• Minnesota
• Montana
• 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
• Newfoundland

Other

• District of Columbia

• Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 205, 214
• Weeds of the Midwestern United States & Central Canada, University of Georgia 2010, ISBN#0-8203-3506-1 See page: 175
• Weeds of the Northeast, 1956, Univ. of Delaware Field Manual #1 See species #: 60
• Weeds of the Northern United States and Canada, 1964 Montgomery See page: 49
• Weeds of the South, University of Georgia 2009, ISBN#0-8203-3046-9 See page: 150
• Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 X
• Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X