Flora of North America species comparison

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

erect, green, simple or with few branches, not wiry, 1.5–3.5 cm, papillose-scabridulous.

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.

uniformly distributed, articulated to ocreae, basal leaves persistent, distal leaves abruptly reduced to bracts;

ocrea 2–3.5 mm, papillose-scabridulous, proximal part funnelform, distal part hyaline, lacerate;

petiole absent;

blade 1-veined, not pleated, linear-subulate, 6–14 × 1 mm, coriaceous, margins revolute, touching along midrib, apex acute, mucronate, papillose.

axillary;

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

axillary and terminal, spikelike, dense;

cymes overlapping, starting almost from stem base, 2–4-flowered.

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

enclosed in ocreae, erect to spreading, 0.4–1 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.

open;

perianth 2–2.5 mm;

tube 20–25% of perianth length;

tepals overlapping, uniformly white, petaloid, oblong to widely obovate, cucullate, navicular in distal 1/4, apex rounded;

midveins 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 perianth, black, elliptic, 1.5–2 mm, faces subequal, shiny, smooth.