Flower Color

• Blue
• Blue-purple
• Purple
• White
• Multi-colored

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

• Terminal raceme

Number of Petals

• 5 petals

Petal Separation

• Completely free to base
• United from 25% - 75% length

Petal Tip

• Pointed
• Rounded

Flower Symmetry

• Flowers strongly irregular

Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)

• 1.5 cm (.6 inch)
• 2.0 cm (.8 inch)
• 2.5 cm (1.0 inch)
• 3.0 cm (1.2 inches)
• 3.5 cm (1.4 inches)

Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)

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

Number of Sepals

• 5 sepals

Sepal Separation

• United from 25% - 75% length
• United > 75% of length

Sepal Tip

• Pointed
• Rounded

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)

• Anthers united, syngynoecious

Carpel Separation

• Carpels united (or one)

Number of Carpels

• 2 carpels

Ovary Position

• Inferior (epigynous)

Fruit Type

• Capsule, 2-celled

Fruit Length at Maturity

• 6 mm (.24 inch)
• 7 mm (.28 inch)
• 8 mm (.32 inch)
• 9 mm (.36 inch)

Fruit Width at Maturity

• 6 mm (.24 inch)
• 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

• Pinnate

Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio

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

Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)

• 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.60 inches)
• 4 - 10 cm (1.60 - 4.0 inches)
• 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)

Leaf Width

• 5 - 10 mm (.20 - .40 inch)
• 1 - 2 cm (.40 - .80 inch)
• 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.6 inches)

Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)

• Lanceolate
• Oblanceolate

Leaf or Leaflet Margin

• Crenate
• Dentate
• Entire
• Serrate

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base

• Acuminate (attenuate)
• Auriculate
• Clasping

Leaf or Leaflet Tip

• Acuminate (attenuate)
• Acute

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface

• Glabrous (NO hairs)
• Hispid or setose
• Scabrous (like sand paper)

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

• Perennial

Growth Habit (while flowering)

• Erect, columnar (narrow)
• Erect, spherical (bushy)

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)
• 1 - 1.5 meters (3.3 - 5.0 feet)
• 1.5 - 2.0 meters (5.0 - 6.6 feet)

Wind Dissemination

• Not wind disseminated

Moisture Regime

• Semi-aquatic
• Seasonally saturated
• 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

• Fibrous
• Tap Root

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
• Texas
• Virginia
• Wisconsin
• West Virginia
• Indiana
• Maryland
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Colorado
• Iowa
• Minnesota
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• South Dakota
• Wyoming
• Nebraska

Other

• District of Columbia

Canadian Province or Territory

• Nova Scotia
• Ontario
• Manitoba

• How to Know the Weeds, 1972, (ISBN# 0-697-04880-2) See page: 152
• Weeds of the Northeast, 1956, Univ. of Delaware Field Manual #1 See species #: 171
• Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 x