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

• Head

Number of Petals

• 0 (no petals)

Number of Sepals

• sepals lacking

Number of Styles

• Styles lacking (male flowers only)

Number of Stamens

• stamens lacking (female flowers only)

Number of Carpels

• 0 (male flowers only or plants producing spores)

Fruit Length at Maturity

• 1 mm (.04 inch) or less

Fruit Width at Maturity

• 1 mm (.04 inch) or less

Burs

• Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Fruit Type

• Spore

Leaf Arrangement

• Whorled > 8 per node

Leaf Type

• Simple (including lobed leaves)

Stipules

• Lacking

Tendrils

• Tendrils absent

Venation

• Parallel

Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio

• Petiole absent (leaf sessile)

Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)

• < 5 mm (< .20 inch)

Leaf Width

• < 1 mm (< .04 inch)
• 1 - 5 mm (.04 - .20 inch)

Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)

• Lanceolate
• Linear or filiform

Leaf or Leaflet Margin

• Entire

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base

• Truncate

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

• Perennial

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)
• 6 - 8 dm (2.0 - 2.6 feet)
• 8 - 10 dm (2.6 - 3.3 feet)

Wind Dissemination

• Fruit, seed, or spore wind borne

Moisture Regime

• Semi-aquatic
• Seasonally saturated
• Mesic

Chlorophyll

• Present

Stem Cross Section

• Hollow (flowering stem at maturity)
• Ridged
• Round

Flowering Stem Leaves

• Stem leafless
• Stem leaves greatly reduced

Main Stem Branches

• Main stem unbranched

Root or Vegetative Propagule

• Fibrous
• Rhizomatous

US State

• Arkansas
• Connecticut
• Illinois
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Michigan
• Missouri
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Texas
• Wisconsin
• West Virginia
• Indiana
• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Iowa
• Idaho
• Minnesota
• Montana
• North Dakota
• New Mexico
• Nevada
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Washington
• Wyoming
• Nebraska

Canadian Province or Territory

• British Columbia
• Ontario
• Quebec
• Alberta
• Manitoba
• Saskatchewan

• Aquatic and Riparian Plants of the West, 2003 (ISBN# 1-879906-59-7) See page: 205
• California Growers Weed Identification Handbook, 1968 - 1998 University of California Publication # 4030-1, See page: 226
• Weeds and Poisonous Plants of Wyoming and Utah 1987 (ISBN 0-941570-06-1) See page: 4
• Weeds of California and other Western States, 2007 (ISBN 13: 978-1-879906-69-3) See Page: 695
• Weeds of Eastern Washington and Adjacent Areas, 1972 (LOC 72-83635) See page: 22
• Weeds of Nebraska and the Great Plains, 1994 (ISBN 0939870-00-4) See page: 287
• Weeds of the West, 1992 (ISBN 0941570-13-4) See page: 308
• Weeds of the West, 2000 (ISBN 0941570-13-4) See page: 306
• Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 X