Flower Color

• Blue
• Blue-purple
• Purple
• Red-purple
• White

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

• Terminal raceme
• Terminal spike

Number of Petals

• 5 petals

Petal Separation

• Completely free to base
• United > 75% of length

Petal Tip

• Pointed
• Rounded

Flower Symmetry

• Flowers strongly irregular

Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)

• 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
• 1.5 cm (.6 inch)
• 2.0 cm (.8 inch)
• 2.5 cm (1.0 inch)

Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)

• 8 mm (.32 inch)
• 9 mm (.36 inch)
• 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
• 1.5 cm (.60 inch)
• 2.0 cm (.80 inch)

Number of Sepals

• 5 sepals

Sepal Separation

• United > 75% of length

Sepal Tip

• Pointed

Flower Sex

• Bisexual (perfect)

Number of Styles

• 1 style

Number of Stamens

• 10 stamens

Stamens Attached to the Petals

• Stamens NOT attached to the petals

Stamens Connate (united)

• Filaments united, diadelphous

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface

• Two-rayed (dolabriform)
• Hirsute
• Sericeous or villous (silky)
• Villous or sericious (silky)

Leaf Arrangement

• All basal

Leaf Type

• Compound odd pinnate > 8 leaflets

Stipules

• Foliaceous 4-10 mm (.16 - .40 in) long

Tendrils

• Tendrils absent

Venation

• Pinnate

Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio

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

Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)

• 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
• 2 - 4 dm (8.0 - 16.0 inches)

Leaf Width

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

Leaf or Leaflet Margin

• Entire

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base

• Acute (cuneate)
• Rounded

Leaf or Leaflet Tip

• Acuminate (attenuate)
• Acute

Succulence

• Not succulent

Carpel Separation

• Carpels united (or one)

Number of Carpels

• 1 carpel

Ovary Position

• Superior (hypogynous)

Fruit Type

• Capsule, 1-celled
• Legume

Fruit Length at Maturity

• 2.0 cm (.80 inch)
• 2.5 cm (1.0 inch)
• 3.0 cm (1.2 inches)

Fruit Width at Maturity

• 3 mm (.12 inch)
• 4 mm (.16 inch)
• 5 mm (.20 inch)
• 6 mm (.24 inch)
• 7 mm (.28 inch)
• 8 mm (.32 inch)

Burs

• Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

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)

• Spreading ascending
• Erect, columnar (narrow)

Plant Height at Maturity

• 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
• 2 - 4 dm (8.0 - 16.0 inches)

Wind Dissemination

• Not wind disseminated

Moisture Regime

• Mesic
• Arid

Chlorophyll

• Present

Stem Cross Section

• Round

Flowering Stem Leaves

• Stem leafless

Main Stem Branches

• Main stem unbranched

Root or Vegetative Propagule

• Tap Root

US State

• Kansas
• Louisiana
• Missouri
• Texas
• Arizona
• Colorado
• Iowa
• Minnesota
• Montana
• North Dakota
• New Mexico
• Oklahoma
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Wyoming
• Nebraska

Canadian Province or Territory

• British Columbia
• Manitoba
• Saskatchewan

• An Illustrated Guide To Arizona Weeds, 1972 (ISBN 0-8165-0288-9) 338 pages. See page: 182
• Common Weeds of the United States, 1971 (ISBN 0-486-20504-5) See page: 232
• Field Guide To The Common Weeds Of Kansas, 1983 (ISBN 0-7006-0233-X) See page: 63
• How to Know the Weeds, 1972, (ISBN# 0-697-04880-2) See page: 71
• Nebraska Weeds, 1979 Nebraska Dept. of Ag., Lincoln NE, See page: 106
• South Dakota Weeds, 1967 South Dakota State University, See page: 109
• South Dakota Weeds 2002 South Dakota Dept. of Ag. 523 E. Capitol, Foss Bldg. Pierre, South Dakota 57501 See page: 99
• Weed Seeds of the Great Plains, 1993 University of Kansas# 92-125-B ISBN# 0-7006-0651-3 See index #: 103
• Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 290
• Weeds and Poisonous Plants of Wyoming and Utah 1987 (ISBN 0-941570-06-1) See page: 74
• Weeds of Nebraska and the Great Plains, 1994 (ISBN 0939870-00-4) See page: 314
• Weeds of the West, 1992 (ISBN 0941570-13-4) See page: 341
• Weeds of the West, 2000 (ISBN 0941570-13-4) See page: 339
• Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 x
• Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X