Flower Color

• Blue
• Blue-purple
• Purple

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

• Axillary spikes
• Terminal spike

Number of Petals

• 5 petals

Petal Separation

• United > 75% of length

Petal Tip

• Bilobed
• Rounded

Flower Symmetry

• Flowers strongly irregular

Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)

• 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
• 1.5 cm (.6 inch)

Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)

• 5 mm (.20 inch)
• 6 mm (.24 inch)
• 7 mm (.28 inch)
• 8 mm (.32 inch)

Number of Sepals

• 5 sepals

Sepal Separation

• United from 25% - 75% length

Sepal Tip

• Pointed
• Spine-like

Flower Sex

• Bisexual (perfect)

Number of Styles

• 1 style

Number of Stamens

• 4 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

• 2 carpels
• 4 carpels

Ovary Position

• Superior (hypogynous)

Fruit Type

• Nutlets, 4

Fruit Length at Maturity

• 1 mm (.04 inch) or less
• 2 mm (.08 inch)

Fruit Width at Maturity

• 1 mm (.04 inch) or less
• 2 mm (.08 inch)
• 3 mm (.12 inch)

Burs

• Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement

• Opposite

Leaf Type

• Simple (including lobed leaves)

Stipules

• Lacking

Tendrils

• Tendrils absent

Venation

• Arcuate
• 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

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

Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)

• Elliptic
• Lanceolate
• Oval
• Ovate

Leaf or Leaflet Margin

• Crenate
• Entire
• Serrate
• Undulate (sinuate, repand)

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base

• Acute (cuneate)

Leaf or Leaflet Tip

• Acuminate (attenuate)
• Rounded (obtuse)

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface

• Glabrous (NO hairs)
• Sericeous or villous (silky)
• Sparsely hairy
• 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)

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

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)

Wind Dissemination

• Not wind disseminated

Moisture Regime

• Mesic

Chlorophyll

• Present

Stem Cross Section

• Ridged
• Square

Flowering Stem Leaves

• Stem leaves greatly reduced
• Stem uniformly leafy

Main Stem Branches

• Main stem unbranched
• Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule

• Fibrous
• Rooting at the nodes

US State

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• 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
• Hawaii
• Indiana
• Maryland
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Alaska
• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Iowa
• Idaho
• Minnesota
• Montana
• North Dakota
• New Mexico
• Nevada
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Washington
• Wyoming
• Nebraska

Canadian Province or Territory

• British Columbia
• New Brunswick
• Nova Scotia
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Quebec
• Alberta
• Manitoba
• Newfoundland
• Saskatchewan
• Yukon

Other

• District of Columbia
• St. Pierre and Miquelon
• Labrador

• Common Weeds of the United States, 1971 (ISBN 0-486-20504-5) See page: 316
• Garden Weeds of Southern California, 1981, See page: 89
• Gilkey`s Weeds of the Pacific Northwest, 1980 (ISBN 0-88246-039-0) See page: 247
• How to Know the Weeds, 1972, (ISBN# 0-697-04880-2) See page: 128
• Nebraska Weeds, 1979 Nebraska Dept. of Ag., Lincoln NE, See page: 161
• Northwest Weeds, 1990 (ISBN 0-87842-249-8) See page: 105
• Ontario Weeds, 1992 Agdex 640, Publication #505 See page: 176
• Some Important Michigan Weeds, 1951 Mich. Ag. Exp. Station Bulletin #304, See page: 169
• South Dakota Weeds, 1967 South Dakota State University, See page: 142
• Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 372, 379
• Weeds, A Golden Guide, 1972 ISBN#0-307-24353-2 See page: 100
• Weeds of Arkansas 1981 (MP 169-5M-3-81) See page: 40
• Weeds of California, 1970, State of California Publications and Documents. See page: 374
• Weeds of California and other Western States, 2007 (ISBN 13: 978-1-879906-69-3) See Page: 882
• Weeds of Canada, 1970 Canada Dept. of Ag., Pub. # 948, See page: 147
• Weeds of Colorado, 1990 Cooperative Extension, Colorado State Univ. Bulletin 521A, See page: 125
• Weeds of Nebraska and the Great Plains, 1994 (ISBN 0939870-00-4) See page: 340
• Weeds of Nova Scotia, 1986 (ISBN# 0-88871-063) See page: 42
• Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses, 1992 Univ. of Florida, Gainesville Publication # SP-79, See page: 133
• Weeds of the Midwestern United States & Central Canada, University of Georgia 2010, ISBN#0-8203-3506-1 See page: 235
• Weeds of the North Central States, 1981 Univ. of Illinois, Urbana - Champaign Bulletin # 772, See page: 155
• Weeds of the Northeast, 1956, Univ. of Delaware Field Manual #1 See species #: 141
• Weeds of the Northeast, 1997 Cornell University ISBN# 0-8014-8334-4 See page: 250
• Weeds of the Northern United States and Canada, 1964 Montgomery See page: 139
• Weeds of the South, University of Georgia 2009, ISBN#0-8203-3046-9 See page: 221
• Weeds of the United States and Their Control, Lorenzi 1987, ISBN# 0-442-25884-4 See page: 256
• Wildly Successful Plants, A Handbook of North American Weeds, 1977 (ISBN# 0-02-528850-4) See page: 29, 229
• Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 x
• Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X