Flower Color

• Red (or pink)
• Purple
• Red-purple

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

• Corymb

Number of Petals

• 5 petals

Petal Separation

• Completely free to base

Petal Tip

• Rounded
• Square

Flower Symmetry

• Flowers regular

Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)

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

Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)

• 3.0 cm (1.2 inches)
• 3.5 cm (1.4 inches)
• 4.0 cm (1.6 inches)
• 4.5 cm (1.8 inches)
• 5.0 cm (2.0 inches)

Number of Sepals

• 5 sepals

Sepal Separation

• Completely free to base

Sepal Tip

• Pointed

Flower Sex

• Bisexual (perfect)

Number of Styles

• 5 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

• 5 carpels

Ovary Position

• Superior (hypogynous)

Fruit Type

• Schizocarp

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

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

Burs

• Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement

• Alternate
• Opposite

Leaf Type

• Simple (including lobed leaves)

Stipules

• Foliaceous 2-4 mm (.08 - .16 in) long
• Foliaceous 4-10 mm (.16 - .40 in) long
• Foliaceous > 1 cm (> .40 inch) long

Tendrils

• Tendrils absent

Venation

• Palmate

Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio

• Petiole < 25% total length
• Petiole 25% - 75% total length
• Petiole > 75% 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

• 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.6 inches)
• 4 - 10 cm (1.6 - 4.0 inches)

Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)

• Palmately 4 - 5 lobed

Leaf or Leaflet Margin

• Lobed
• Parted

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base

• Oblique
• Truncate

Leaf or Leaflet Tip

• Acuminate (attenuate)
• Acute

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface

• Glabrous (NO hairs)
• 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, spherical (bushy)

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

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

• Rhizomatous

US State

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

Other

• District of Columbia

Canadian Province or Territory

• Ontario
• Manitoba
• Newfoundland

• Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 293, 295
• Weeds of the Northeast, 1956, Univ. of Delaware Field Manual #1 See species #: 359
• Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 x