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1 Leaves parted to divided

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2 Carpels with dehiscent part noticeably narrower and shorter than indehiscent (reticulate) part, comprising less than 1/3 of the whole; inflorescence of 1-2 flowers per node, usually without branches

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3 Stem hairs lepidote, meaning hairs with rays in a single plane, all united at the base by a web for 30% or more of their length, bracts present at base of calyx

Images    Description    S. leptophylla

3' Stem hairs not lepidote but with hair rays free for most of their length and usually spreading from the stem of the hair in three dimensions; bracts beneath the calyx absent or if present then few and early deciduous

Images    Description    S. coccinea

2’ Carpels with dehiscent part as wide or wider than indehiscent part, comprising 1/3 or more of the whole, inflorescence often of 3 or more flowers per node or with branches, or racemiform with 1-3 flowers per node

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4 Plants sparsely pubescent or some glabrous, some with calyces noticeably more densely pubescent than older stems

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5 Plants glabrous throughout or nearly so, plants of extreme northwest Arizona only, all north of the Grand Canyon and not more than 40 kilometers east of California state boundary

Images    Description    S. gierischii

5’ Plants not glabrous throughout, calyces and new growth at apex noticeably more pubescent than older stems

Images    Description    S. rusbyi (in part)

4' Plants not sparsely pubescent or glabrous, calyces, new growth at apex, and older stems more or less uniformly pubescent

6 Leaves with primary lobes branched, inforescence usually many flowered and sometimes crowded

Images    Description    S. grossulariafolia (in part)

6' Leaves with primary lobes not branched or little branched; inflorescence few-flowered and not crowded.

Images     Description     S. digitata

1’ Leaves unlobed to cleft, not parted to divided

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7 Leaves cleft to parted

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8 Leaves with bases cuneate to truncate

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9 Stems usually less than 40 cm; plants low or sprawling;Inflorescence racemiform, without longer branches at base, generally 1-3 flowers per node, usually unbranched; carpel reticulation coarse and distinct

Images    Description    S. hastulata in part)

9' Stems usually greater than 40 cm; plants erect or ascending; Inflorescence not racemiform, narrow and crowded above and often with crowded branches at basecarpel reticulation usually indistinct

Images    Description    S. fendleri

8’ Leaves with bases truncate to cordate

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10 Plants sparsely pubescent, except calyces and new growth at apex noticeably more pubescent than older stems

Images    Description    S. rusbyi (in part)

10' Plants more uniformly pubescent, calyces, new growth at apex, and older stems more or less uniformly pubescent

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11 Inflorescence few-flowered, often with several longer branches, usually throughout

Images    Description    S. laxa

11' Inflorescence usually narrow and crowded above and often with a few longer branches at base

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12 Leaves usually less than 1.2 times as long as wide, Arizona north of the Mogollon Rim and the adjacent highlands to the south of the Rim

Images    Description    S. grossulariafolia (in part)

12' Leaves more than 1.3 times as long as wide, plants of the Sonoran, Mohave, and Chihuahuan Deserts, in deserts and and semi-desert grasslands,

Images    Description    S. emoryi (in part)

7’ Leaves unlobed or shallowly lobed

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13 Leaves more than three times longer than wide (length measured from the petiole attachment to the distal end of the midvein)

Images    Description    S. angustifolia

13’ Leaves less than three times as long as wide

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14 Plants annual or biennial, some quite large; carpels with indehiscent portion comprising 1/3 or less of the entire carpel, often blackened

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15 Plants densely, and often yellowish pubescent, carpels black or not

Images    Description    S. orcuttii

15’ Plants not densely pubescent, carpels almost always black; procumbent stems often give the plant a characteristic basket shape

Images    Description    S. coulteri

14’ Plants perennial; if carpels blackened then with indehiscent portion comprising abut 1/3 to 2/3 of the whole

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16 Inflorescence few-flowered, often with several longer branches, usually throughout

Images    Description    S. ambigua

16’ Inflorescence narrow, at least in distal half, often crowded, sometimes with longer branches at base

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17 Inflorescence racemiform, without longer branches at base, generally 1-3 flowers per node, usually unbranched and pedicels about the same length as the calyx

Images    Description    S. hastulata in part)

17’ Inflorescence not racemiform, narrow and crowded above and often with crowded branches at base

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18 Leaves more than 1.3 times as long as wide

Images    Description    S. emoryi (in part)

18’ Leaves less than 1.1 times as long as wide

Images    Description    S. parvifolia