Flower Color

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

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

• Axillary cluster
• Solitary, axillary
• Terminal raceme
• Terminal spike

Number of Petals

• 5 petals

Petal Separation

• United at base only (<25% length)

Petal Tip

• Pointed
• Rounded

Flower Symmetry

• Flowers regular

Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)

• 3 mm (.12 inch)
• 4 mm (.16 inch)
• 5 mm (.20 inch)
• 6 mm (.24 inch)
• 7 mm (.28 inch)
• 8 mm (.32 inch)
• 9 mm (.36 inch)
• 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
• 1.5 cm (.6 inch)
• 2.0 cm (.8 inch)

Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)

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

• 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 NOT attached to the petals

Stamens Connate (united)

• Filaments or anthers NOT united

Carpel Separation

• Carpels united (or one)

Number of Carpels

• 3 carpels
• 4 carpels
• 5 carpels

Ovary Position

• Inferior (epigynous)

Fruit Type

• Capsule, 3-celled
• Capsule, > 3-celled

Fruit Length 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)

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

• Alternate

Leaf Type

• Simple (including lobed leaves)

Stipules

• Lacking

Tendrils

• Tendrils absent

Venation

• Palmate

Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio

• Petiole absent (leaf sessile)

Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)

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

Leaf Width

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

Leaf Shape (simple leaves only)

• Cordate (heart)
• Elliptic
• Orbicular (round)
• Ovate

Leaf or Leaflet Margin

• Crenate
• Dentate
• Serrate

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base

• Auriculate
• Clasping
• Perfoliate

Leaf or Leaflet Tip

• Acute
• Rounded (obtuse)

Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface

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

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

• Annual

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)
• 6 - 8 dm (2.0 - 2.6 feet)
• 8 - 10 dm (2.6 - 3.3 feet)

Wind Dissemination

• Not wind disseminated

Moisture Regime

• Mesic

Chlorophyll

• Present

Stem Cross Section

• Ridged
• Round

Flowering Stem Leaves

• 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
• 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
• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Iowa
• Idaho
• Minnesota
• Montana
• North Dakota
• New Mexico
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Washington
• Wyoming
• Nebraska

Canadian Province or Territory

• British Columbia
• New Brunswick
• Ontario
• Quebec

Other

• District of Columbia

• How to Know the Weeds, 1972, (ISBN# 0-697-04880-2) See page: 151
• Manual of Ohio Weeds, 1931 Ohio Ag. Exp. Station Bull. # 475, See page: 88
• Nebraska Weeds, 1979 Nebraska Dept. of Ag., Lincoln NE, See page: 184
• Representative Missouri Weeds and Their Control, 1941 Univ. of Missouri Ag. Exp Station Bulletin #433, See page: 173
• Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 420, 421
• Weeds, A Golden Guide, 1972 ISBN#0-307-24353-2 See page: 114
• Weeds of Arkansas 1981 (MP 169-5M-3-81) See page: 3
• Weeds of Nebraska and the Great Plains, 1994 (ISBN 0939870-00-4) See page: 232
• Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses, 1992 Univ. of Florida, Gainesville Publication # SP-79, See page: 76
• Weeds of the Midwestern United States & Central Canada, University of Georgia 2010, ISBN#0-8203-3506-1 See page: 166
• Weeds of the Northeast, 1956, Univ. of Delaware Field Manual #1 See species #: 226
• Weeds of the Northeast, 1997 Cornell University ISBN# 0-8014-8334-4 See page: 188
• Weeds of the South, University of Georgia 2009, ISBN#0-8203-3046-9 See page: 144
• Weeds of the United States and Their Control, Lorenzi 1987, ISBN# 0-442-25884-4 See page: 288
• Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 x
• Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X