Flower Color

• Red (or pink)
• Red-purple
• White

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

• Solitary, axillary
• Terminal raceme

Number of Petals

• 4 petals

Petal Separation

• Completely free to base

Petal Tip

• Bilobed
• Rounded

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)

• 4.0 cm (1.6 inches)
• 4.5 cm (1.8 inches)
• 5.0 cm (2.0 inches)
• > 5.0 cm (> 2.0 inches)

Number of Sepals

• 4 sepals

Sepal Separation

• Completely free to base

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

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

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

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)

Leaf Width

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

Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)

• Elliptic
• Lanceolate
• Oblanceolate
• Oblong
• Ovate
• Pinnately lobed

Leaf or Leaflet Margin

• Entire
• Lobed
• Undulate (sinuate, repand)

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base

• Acute (cuneate)
• Rounded

Leaf or Leaflet Tip

• Acute
• Rounded (obtuse)

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface

• Sericeous or villous (silky)
• Strigose
• Villous or sericious (silky)

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)
• Erect, spherical (bushy)

Plant Height at Maturity

• 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
• 2 - 4 dm (8.0 - 16.0 inches)
• 4 - 6 dm (1.3 - 2.0 feet)

Wind Dissemination

• Not wind disseminated

Moisture Regime

• Mesic
• Arid

Chlorophyll

• Present

Stem Cross Section

• Round

Flowering Stem Leaves

• Stem leaves greatly reduced

Main Stem Branches

• Main stem unbranched
• Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule

• Fibrous
• Rhizomatous
• Tap Root

US State

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Missouri
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Indiana
• Arizona
• California
• Iowa
• New Mexico
• Oklahoma
• Utah
• Nebraska

• Garden Weeds of Southern California, 1981, See page: 76
• How to Know the Weeds, 1972, (ISBN# 0-697-04880-2) See page: 111
• Weeds of Arkansas 1981 (MP 169-5M-3-81) See page: 48
• Weeds of California and other Western States, 2007 (ISBN 13: 978-1-879906-69-3) See Page: 975
• Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses, 1992 Univ. of Florida, Gainesville Publication # SP-79, See page: 156
• Weeds of the South, University of Georgia 2009, ISBN#0-8203-3046-9 See page: 244
• Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 x
• Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X