Henry A. Gleason

“ Grass-like or rush-like plants, with inconspicuous greenish or brownish flowers, of 3 chaffy or scale-like sepals and as many similar petals.
1a. Leaf-sheaths closed; capsule 1-celled and 3-seeded; stem or leaves usually hairy at or near the base (1-4 dm. high) . (Wood Rush) — 2. 1b. Leaf-sheaths open; capsule many-seeded; plants never hairy — 4. 2a. Flowers solitary at the ends of the branches of the umbel-like cluster (spring) Wood Rush, Luzula saltuensis. 2b. Flowers in spikes or dense clusters — 3. 3a. Flower-cluster spike-like, nodding at the tip (summer) Wood Rush, Luzula spicata. ”

“ Herbs with alternate leaves; sepals and petals each 5; stamens numerous, united by their filaments to form a tube surrounding the styles; ovary many-celled.
1a. Flowers yellow (summer and autumn) — 2. 1b. Flowers pale-yellow, with a dark center (2-4 dm. high; late summer) Flower-of-an-hour, Hibiscus trionum. 1c. Flowers white to red or blue, never yellow — 3. 2a. Leaves broadly heart-shape (10-15 dm. tall) Velvet Leaf, Abutilon theophrasti. 2b. Leaves ovate-lanceolate (2-5 dm. tall) Sida, Sida spinosa. 3a. Calyx subtended by 6 to many bractlets which are sometimes united at base (summer) — 4. ”

“ If one reaches a number in which none of the lines of description agrees with the plant, it is very probable that he has made a mistake at an earlier stage of the identification, and he should then begin anew. ”

“ Herbs with alternate simple leaves and milky juice; flowers irregular; petals 5, united; corolla split down the upper side; stamens 5, united by their anthers into a ring or tube surrounding the style; ovary 2-celled, inferior. Flowers in summer and autumn.
1a. Leaves all basal, tubular; flowers on leafless stalks (aquatic, 1-4 dm. high; flowers blue) Water Lobelia, Lobelia dortmanna. 1b. Leaves normal, on the stem — 2. 2a. Flowers more than 2 cm. long (5-10 dm. high) — 3. 2b. Flowers about 1 cm. long, or shorter (flowers light blue) — 4. ”

“ Herbs with opposite or alternate leaves and regular flowers with 2 sepals, 5 petals, and a 1-celled ovary with 2 or 3 styles.
1a. Leaves a single pair on each stem (1-2 dm. high; flowers pink, in racemes in early spring) (Spring Beauty) — 2. 1b. Leaves numerous (prostrate or spreading; flowers in summer) — 3. 2a. Leaves lance-ovate to oblong, not more than six times as long as wide Spring Beauty, Claytonia caroliniana. 2b. Leaves linear or linear-lanceolate, more than six times as long as wide Spring Beauty, Claytonia virginica. 3a. Flowers yellow, about 5 mm. ”

“ Plants not twining (some climb by tendrils) and not with milky juice. — 2. 2a. Flowers in close spikes or heads, surrounded or subtended by a green or colored bract, the whole resembling a single flower; petals minute or wanting; leaves broad, not grass-like, linear, or sword-shape ARACEAE, p. 8. 2b. Plants with narrow, linear, grass-like, or sword-shape leaves (a few species of Carex have broader, lanceolate to ovate leaves) ; flowers greenish, yellowish, or brownish, never brightly colored, and frequently dry or chaffy in texture; perianth small or wanting ”

“ Trees, with opposite palmately compound leaves, and showy white or yellowish flowers in panicles in spring; sepals 5; petals 4 or 5; stamens about 7; fruit a smooth brown nut.
1a. Leaflets 7; buds viscid; corolla of 5 petals Horse Chestnut, Aesculus hippocastanum. 1b. Leaflets 5; buds smooth; corolla of 4 petals Buckeye, Aesculus glabra.
[Pg 71] BALSAMINACEAE, the Touch-me-not Family
Smooth herbs, with alternate simple leaves and showy flowers; one petal-like sepal prolonged into a spur; fruit explosive when ripe (5-10 dm. high; summer) . ”

“ Herbs with alternate (rarely opposite) leaves, acrid watery juice, separate sepals and petals, numerous stamens, and several or many (rarely only 1) simple pistils. Petals present or absent, in the latter case the sepals are usually petal-like in appearance.
1a. Climbing plants with opposite leaves (flowers in late summer) (Virgin's Bower) — 2. 1b. Aquatic plants with dissected submerged leaves (flowers in late spring and summer) (Water Crowfoot) — 3. 1c. Terrestrial or mud plants, not agreeing with 1a or 1b — 6. 2a. Flowers white, 2-3 cm. wide Virgin's Bower, Clematis virginiana. 2b. ”

“ Leaves thin, dull above; fruit black, large and juicy Dewberry, Rubus villosus. 18b. Leaves firm or thick, shining above; fruit reddish, small, consisting of a few sour drupelets Swamp Dewberry, Rubus hispidus. 19a. Ripe fruit dropping away from the white receptacle or core; terminal leaflet of each leaf with a long stalk, while the lateral leaflets are sessile or nearly so (Raspberry) — 20. 19b. Ripe fruit and receptacle or core dropping together; all the leaflets on stalks which are approximately equal in length (Blackberry) — 22. 20a. Stem very glaucous with a whitish or bluish waxy deposit ”

“ Style divided at the top into linear or oblong stigmas (flowers white or pink) (Bindweed) — 3. 2b. Style not divided at the top; stigmas sessile, capitate (Morning Glory) — 6. 3a. Stem erect; leaves rounded or somewhat cordate at base, not hastate or sagittate (1-3 dm. high) Bindweed, Convolvulus spithamaeus. 3b. Stem trailing or twining; leaves sagittate or hastate — 4. 4a. Calyx almost concealed by two large heart-shape bracts — 5. 4b. Bracts at base of calyx none Bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis. 5a. Leaves triangular-hastate, with sharp basal lobes Bindweed, Convolvulus sepium. ”

“ Leaves at base of umbel broad, resembling those of the inflorescence Spurge, Euphorbia lucida. 15a. Upper stem-leaves distinctly narrowed at the base; introduced species of waste places (summer) Spurge, Euphorbia peplus. [Pg 68] 15b. Upper stem-leaves rounded at the sessile base; native species of woodlands (spring and early summer) Spurge, Euphorbia commutata.
CALLITRICHACEAE, the Water Starwort Family
Small herbs growing in water or in mud, with opposite entire leaves and small inconspicuous axillary flowers, with neither calyx nor corolla. (Flowers in summer) . ”

“ Perianth differentiated into sepals and 2 or 3 colored petals — 21. 19a. Flowers in umbels — 20. [Pg xxix] 19b. Flowers in dense round heads; petals 5 2a, in UMBELLIFERAE, p. 80. 19c. Flowers in spikes, racemes, or panicles 38, in LILIACEAE, p. 13. 20a. Ovary inferior, appearing below the perianth as a swelling at the apex of the stalk; flowers bright yellow; leaves linear AMARYLLIDACEAE, p. 14. 20b. Ovary inferior; flowers blue or white, terminating a flattened winged leafless flower-stalk 3a, in IRIDACEAE, p. 15. 20c. Ovary superior, i. ”

“ Flowering stems 2 dm. or less high (spring) Dwarf Iris, Iris lacustris. 3a. Spathes terminal, sessile — 4. 3b. Spathes long-peduncled, axillary — 8. 4a. Spathe single — 5. 4b. Spathes 2 on each flowering stem — 7. 5a. Pedicels much longer than the inner (shorter) bract Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium mucronatum. 5b. Pedicels equaling or barely exceeding the inner bract — 6. 6a. Capsule brown; common species Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium angustifolium. 6b. Capsule green or yellowish; rare species Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium montanum. 7a. Leaves folded lengthwise ”

“ Leaves simple (late spring) (Grape) — 4. 2a. Branches of the tendrils chiefly ending in adhesive disks — 3. 2b. Branches of the tendrils twining, or rarely with a few disks Virginia Creeper, Psedera vitacea. 3a. Stem and foliage glabrous Virginia Creeper, Psedera quinquefolia. 3b. Stem and foliage pubescent, at least when young Virginia Creeper, Psedera quinquefolia var. hirsuta. 4a. Leaves conspicuously pubescent beneath — 5. 4b. Leaves glabrous beneath when mature, or pubescent on the veins only — 6. 5a. A tendril or flower-cluster opposite each leaf Fox Grape, Vitis labrusca. ”

“ Leaves pinnately divided or compound — 33. 31a. Leaf-segments lanceolate or narrowly oblong Toothwort, Dentaria laciniata. 31b. Leaf-segments ovate or ovate-oblong — 32. 32a. Stem-leaves 2, opposite or nearly opposite Toothwort, Dentaria diphylla. 32b. Stem-leaves 2-5, alternate Toothwort, Dentaria maxima. 33a. Plants growing in water, or in mud near water (spring and summer) — 34. [Pg 45] 33b. Plants of dry or moist soil — 35. 34a. Aerial leaves distinctly compound, with 3-11 leaflets Water Cress, Radicula nasturtium-aquaticum. 34b. Aerial leaves merely serrate to pinnatifid ”

“ Leaves deeply pinnatifid — 23. 23a. Pod dehiscent when ripe by two valves, tipped with a flat or angled beak White Mustard, Brassica alba. 23b. Pod indehiscent, with spongy cross-partitions between the seeds, tipped with a conical beak Wild Radish, Raphanus raphanistrum. 24a. Terminal segment of the principal leaves much larger than the lateral segments; flowers in spring and summer — 25. 24b. Terminal segment of the principal leaves equaling or smaller than the lateral ones (5-10 dm. high; pods very long and slender; flowers in summer) Sisymbrium, Sisymbrium altissimum. ”

“ Heads small, seldom more than 1 cm. wide, including the rays, blooming in late summer and autumn; flowers numerous, crowded in spikes, racemes, corymbs, or panicles (Goldenrod) — 133. 132b. Heads medium size or large, more than 1 cm. and usually exceeding 2 cm. in width, including the rays — 165. 133a. Heads chiefly in clusters or short racemes in the axils of ordinary foliage leaves, or occasionally the upper compacted into a leafy cluster terminating the stem — 134. ”

“ Twining vines (flowers white or greenish, summer) — 33. 2a. Sepals 6, the 3 inner ones enlarging in fruit and surrounding the achenes; flowers in panicles — 3. 2b. Sepals 4 or 5 (occasional flowers may be found with 6 sepals, but the flowers are not in panicles) (summer) — 13. 3a. Leaves arrow-shape or halberd-shape, with 2 basal lobes (Sorrel) — 4. 3b. Leaves without basal lobes (Dock) — 5. 4a. Leaves halberd-shape, the basal lobes directed sidewise Red Sorrel, Rumex acetosella. 4b. Leaves arrow-shape, the basal lobes directed backward Green Sorrel, Rumex acetosa. ”