Flower Color

• Red (or pink)
• Purple
• Red-purple

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

• Terminal raceme

Number of Petals

• 4 petals

Petal Separation

• Completely free to base
• United at base only (<25% length)

Petal Tip

• Bilobed
• Rounded
• Square

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)

• 2.0 cm (.80 inch)
• 2.5 cm (1.0 inch)
• 3.0 cm (1.2 inches)
• 3.5 cm (1.4 inches)
• 4.0 cm (1.6 inches)

Number of Sepals

• 4 sepals

Sepal Separation

• United at base < 25% length

Sepal Tip

• Pointed

Flower Sex

• Bisexual (perfect)

Number of Styles

• 1 style

Number of Stamens

• 8 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

• 4 carpels

Ovary Position

• Inferior (epigynous)

Fruit Type

• Capsule, > 3-celled

Fruit Length at Maturity

• 8.0 cm (3.2 inches)
• 9.0 cm (3.6 inches)
• 1.0 dm (4.0 inches)
• 1.5 dm (6.0 inches)

Fruit Width at Maturity

• 3 mm (.12 inch)
• 4 mm (.16 inch)
• 5 mm (.20 inch)
• 6 mm (.24 inch)

Burs

• Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement

• Alternate
• Opposite

Leaf Type

• Simple (including lobed leaves)

Stipules

• Lacking

Tendrils

• Tendrils absent

Venation

• Pinnate

Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio

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

Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)

• 4 - 10 cm (1.60 - 4.0 inches)
• 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)

Leaf Width

• 1 - 2 cm (.40 - .80 inch)
• 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.6 inches)

Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)

• Lanceolate

Leaf or Leaflet Margin

• Entire

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base

• Acute (cuneate)

Leaf or Leaflet Tip

• Acute

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface

• Puberulent
• Pubescent

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

• Perennial

Growth Habit (while flowering)

• Erect, columnar (narrow)

Plant Height at Maturity

• 6 - 8 dm (2.0 - 2.6 feet)
• 8 - 10 dm (2.6 - 3.3 feet)
• 1 - 1.5 meters (3.3 - 5.0 feet)

Wind Dissemination

• Fruit, seed, or spore wind borne

Moisture Regime

• Aquatic
• Semi-aquatic
• Seasonally saturated

Chlorophyll

• Present

Stem Cross Section

• Round

Flowering Stem Leaves

• Stem uniformly leafy

Main Stem Branches

• Main stem unbranched
• Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule

• Fibrous
• Rhizomatous

US State

• Connecticut
• Illinois
• Kentucky
• Massachusetts
• Maine
• Michigan
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Wisconsin
• West Virginia
• Indiana
• Maryland
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Oregon
• Washington

Canadian Province or Territory

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

• How to Know the Weeds, 1972, (ISBN# 0-697-04880-2) See page: 110
• Northwest Weeds, 1990 (ISBN 0-87842-249-8) See page: 89
• Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 319
• Weeds of the Northeast, 1997 Cornell University ISBN# 0-8014-8334-4 See page: 254
• Weeds of the Northern United States and Canada, 1964 Montgomery See page: 117
• Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 X
• Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X