Flora of North America species comparison

decumbent to ascending or erect, branched, without noticeable ribs, glabrous, glandular-punctate.

erect or, sometimes, prostrate or scandent, simple or branched, glabrous or pubescent, rarely with recurved prickles.

ocrea brown, cylindric or funnelform, (8–)10–15 mm, chartaceous, base inflated, margins truncate, ciliate with bristles 1–4 mm, surface glabrous or strigose, usually glandular-punctate;

petiole 0.1–0.8 cm, glandular-punctate, leaves sometimes sessile;

blade without dark triangular or lunate blotch adaxially, lanceolate to narrowly rhombic, (1.5–)4–10(–15) × 0.4–2.5 cm, base tapered or cuneate, margins antrorsely strigose, apex acute to acuminate, faces glabrous or scabrous along midveins, glandular-punctate, sometimes obscurely so adaxially.

deciduous, mostly cauline, alternate, petiolate or sessile;

ocrea persistent or disintegrating with age and deciduous entirely or distally, usually tan, brown, or reddish, chartaceous or partially to entirely foliaceous, rarely coriaceous proximally and chartaceous distally, glabrous or scabrous to variously pubescent, never 2-lobed distally;

blade lanceolate or ovate to hastate or sagittate, margins entire or, rarely, hastately lobed.

terminal and axillary, erect or nodding, interrupted or uninterrupted distally, 30–180 × 5–9 mm;

peduncle (0–)10–50 mm, sometimes absent on axillary inflorescences and flowers thus enclosed in ocreae, glabrous, glandular-punctate;

ocreolae not overlapping or overlapping distally, margins eciliate or ciliate with bristles to 1 mm.

terminal or terminal and axillary, spikelike, paniclelike, or capitate;

peduncle present.

ascending, 1–3 mm.

present or absent.

1–3(–5) per ocreate fascicle, homostylous;

perianth greenish proximally, white or pink distally, glandular-punctate with punctae ± uniformly distributed, scarcely accrescent;

tepals 4–5, connate ca. 1/3 their length, petaloid, obovate, 2–3.5 mm, veins prominent or not, not anchor-shaped, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded;

stamens 6–8, included;

anthers pink or red, elliptic to ovate;

styles 2–3, connate proximally.

bisexual (often functionally unisexual in P. amphibia and P. hydropiperoides), 1–14 per ocreate fascicle, base not stipelike;

perianth white, greenish white, roseate, red, or purple, campanulate or urceolate, rarely rotate, rarely becoming fleshy in fruit, glabrous, sometimes glandular-punctate, accrescent or nonaccrescent;

tepals 4–5, connate 1/4–2/3 their lengths (less than 1/5 their lengths in P. wallichii), petaloid, dimorphic, outer larger than inner;

stamens 5–8, filaments distinct or connate basally, outer ones sometimes adnate to perianth tube, glabrous;

anthers yellow, pink, or red, elliptic to ovate;

styles 2–3, erect to spreading or reflexed, distinct or connate;

stigmas capitate.

included or apex exserted, brownish black, biconvex or 3-gonous, 1.9–3 × 1.5–2 mm, dull, minutely roughened.

included or exserted, brown or dark brown to black, not winged, discoid, biconvex, 2–3-gonous, or spheroidal, glabrous.

embryo curved.

= 10, 11, 12.

= 20.