Flora of North America species comparison

erect to straggling, branched or not, 4-angled, 3–32 cm, glabrous or softly pubescent, angles not minutely papillate-scabrid.

decumbent and ascending, branched, smoothly 4-angled, 10–40 cm, glabrous.

sessile;

blade green, frequently glaucous, 1–3-veined, midrib prominent, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, widest at base, 0.4–2.6(–4) cm × 1–4 mm, strongly coriaceous or not, base round, margins entire, convex, glabrous or ciliate, apex acute to acuminate, not spinescent, shiny, smooth, glabrous or sparingly villous, base usually glabrous, rarely with few cilia.

sessile;

blade narrowly elliptic, elliptic-lanceolate, or oblanceolate, 0.5–2(–3) cm × 2–10(–13) mm, base cuneate, margins thin with reticulate venation, entire, apex acute, glabrous, slightly ciliate basally.

with flowers solitary, or terminal, 3–30-flowered (rarely more) cymes;

bracts lanceolate, 2–10 mm, herbaceous with scarious margins, or scarious throughout, glabrous or ciliate.

axillary with 1–5-flowered cymes in mid and distal axils of foliage leaves;

bracts lanceolate, ca. 1 mm, scarious with green midrib.

ascending to erect, straight, 5–30 mm, glabrous or softly pubescent.

5–30 mm, glabrous.

5–10 mm diam.;

sepals 5, 3-veined, midrib prominent, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 3.5–5 mm, margins convex, narrow, scarious, sometimes ciliate, apex acute, glabrous or pubescent;

petals 5, 3–8 mm, 1–1.5 times as long as sepals;

stamens 5–10;

styles 3(–6), ascending, curled at tip, ca. 1.5 mm.

ca. 6 mm diam.;

sepals 5, 3-veined, lanceolate-triangular, 2.5–3.5 mm, margins scarious, apex acute, glabrous;

petals 5, 1.5–3 mm, shorter than (rarely equaling) sepals, blade apex 2-fid almost to base, with widely divergent lobes;

stamens 10;

styles 3, ca. 1 mm.

blackish purple or straw colored, ovoid to ovoid-lanceoloid, 4–6 mm, 1.5–2 times as long as sepals, apex broadly acute, opening by 6 valves;

carpophore absent.

green, ovoid, 2.5–3.5 mm, equaling sepals, apex broadly acute;

carpophore absent.

brown, reniform to globose, 0.6–0.9 mm diam., shallowly tuberculate to smooth.

pale reddish brown, ± reniform, 0.3–0.4 mm diam., with small tubercles.

= 52–104, (107).

= 24.