Flora of North America species comparison

prostrate to erect, branched, flexuous, 5–200 cm.

prostrate or ascending, brown, branched, rooting at nodes, not wiry, 10–100 cm, glabrous, covered with remains of lacerate, hyaline ocreae.

ocrea 3–15 mm, proximal part cylindric or ± funnelform, distal part silvery, hyaline, soon disintegrating into persistent fibers or nearly completely deciduous;

petiole 0.3–9 mm;

blade green to gray-green, narrowly elliptic, lanceolate, elliptic, obovate, or spatulate, 6–50(–60) × 0.5–22 mm, margins flat, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded;

stem leaves 1–4 times as long as adjacent branch leaves;

distal leaves overtopping flowers.

crowded at branch tips, articulated to ocreae, basal leaves caducous or persistent, distal leaves not reduced in size;

ocrea 15–20 mm, glabrous, proximal part cylindric to funnelform, distal part silvery, entire or slightly lacerate, disintegrating into persistent white-gray curly fibers;

petiole 0–0.5 mm;

blade 1-veined, without pleats, linear to oblanceolate, (5–)10–20(–33) × 3–8 mm, coriaceous, margins revolute, smooth, apex acute or mucronate.

axillary;

cymes uniformly distributed or aggregated at tips of stems and branches, 1–6(–8)-flowered.

axillary;

cymes crowded in distal axils, 2–5-flowered.

enclosed in or exserted from ocreae, 1.5–5 mm.

enclosed in ocreae, erect to spreading, 2–5 mm.

closed or semi-open;

perianth 1.8–5.5 mm;

tube 20–57% of perianth length;

tepals overlapping or not, green or reddish brown with white, pink, or red margins, petaloid, not keeled, oblong to obovate, often cucullate in fruit;

midveins branched or unbranched, thickened or not;

stamens 5–8.

semi-open or open;

perianth (4.5–)6–10 mm;

tube 22–48% of perianth length;

tepals partially overlapping, uniformly pink or white, reddish brown when dried, petaloid, oblong-ovate to ± lanceolate, apex rounded;

midveins pinnately branched;

stamens 8.

enclosed in or exserted from perianth, light to dark brown, ovate, (2–)3-gonous, 1.2–4.2 mm, faces subequal or unequal, apex not beaked, edges slightly concave, dull, usually coarsely striate-tubercled, sometimes obscurely tubercled; late-season achenes common or not, 2–5 mm.

enclosed in or slightly exserted from perianth, black, ovate, 4–5 mm, faces subequal, shiny, smooth.