Flower Color

• Red (or pink)
• White
• Multi-colored

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

• Cyme (simple or branched)
• Solitary, axillary

Number of Petals

• 5 petals

Petal Separation

• United > 75% of length

Petal Tip

• Rounded

Flower Symmetry

• Flowers regular

Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)

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

Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)

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

Number of Sepals

• 5 sepals

Sepal Separation

• Completely free to base
• United at base < 25% length

Sepal Tip

• Pointed

Flower Sex

• Bisexual (perfect)

Number of Styles

• 1 style

Number of Stamens

• 5 stamens

Stamens Attached to the Petals

• Stamens attached to the petals

Stamens Connate (united)

• Filaments or anthers NOT united

Carpel Separation

• Carpels united (or one)

Number of Carpels

• 1 carpel
• 2 carpels
• 3 carpels
• 4 carpels

Ovary Position

• Superior (hypogynous)

Fruit Type

• Capsule, 1-celled
• Capsule, 2-celled
• Capsule, 3-celled
• Capsule, > 3-celled

Fruit Length at Maturity

• 7 mm (.28 inch)
• 8 mm (.32 inch)
• 9 mm (.36 inch)
• 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
• 1.5 cm (.60 inch)

Fruit Width at Maturity

• 7 mm (.28 inch)
• 8 mm (.32 inch)
• 9 mm (.36 inch)
• 1.0 cm (.40 inch)

Burs

• Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement

• Alternate

Leaf Type

• Simple (including lobed leaves)

Stipules

• Lacking

Tendrils

• Tendrils absent

Venation

• Palmate
• Pinnate

Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio

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

Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)

• 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.60 inches)
• 4 - 10 cm (1.60 - 4.0 inches)

Leaf Width

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

Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)

• Cordate (heart)
• Ovate
• Palmately 3 lobed
• Palmately 4 - 5 lobed

Leaf or Leaflet Margin

• Dentate
• Entire
• Lobed

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base

• Acute (cuneate)
• Cordate
• Rounded

Leaf or Leaflet Tip

• Acute

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface

• Glabrous (NO hairs)
• Pubescent
• Sparsely hairy

Succulence

• Not succulent

Milky Juice

• Juice NOT milky (watery)
• Juice milky

Woodiness

• Herbaceous

Spines or Thorns

• Spines or Thorns ABSENT

Aromatic (vegetative structures)

• Not aromatic

Life Cycle

• Annual

Growth Habit (while flowering)

• Prostrate
• Climbing vine

Plant Height at Maturity

• 5 - 10 cm (2.0 - 4.0 inches)
• 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
• 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)
• 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

• Mesic

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

• Tap Root

US State

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Massachusetts
• Missouri
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• New Jersey
• New York
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Indiana
• Maryland
• California
• Iowa
• Oklahoma

Other

• District of Columbia

Canadian Province or Territory

• Ontario

• Identifying Seedling and Mature Weeds (Southeastern US) 1980 North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, Bulletin #461 See page: 84
• S.W.S.S. Weed ID Guide, 1993 Section Number and Five letter code: 4 IPOLA
• Weed Seeds of the Great Plains, 1993 University of Kansas# 92-125-B ISBN# 0-7006-0651-3 See index #: 157
• Weeds of Kentucky and Adjacent States, 1991 (ISBN 0-8131-1743-7) See page: 30
• Weeds of the Midwestern United States & Central Canada, University of Georgia 2010, ISBN#0-8203-3506-1 See page: 193
• Weeds of the Northeast, 1956, Univ. of Delaware Field Manual #1 See species #: 232
• Weeds of the Northeast, 1997 Cornell University ISBN# 0-8014-8334-4 See page: 214 - 216
• Weeds of the South, University of Georgia 2009, ISBN#0-8203-3046-9 See page: 169
• Weeds of the United States and Their Control, Lorenzi 1987, ISBN# 0-442-25884-4 See page: 241
• Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 x
• Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X