Perideridia gairdneri

Squawroot

Inflorescence Side

West Block, Cypress Hills
26-July-2006

Note that the key to the genera in Budd's Flora requires:

leaves much divided, with leaflets or segments numerous; NOT [leaves simple or divided into few well developed leaflets]

This is not true.

Note that the key to the genera in Flora of Alberta requires:

leaves once pinnate; NOT [leaves 2 or more times pinnate or ternate]

In fact, the leaves of this species can be once or twice pinnate.

The rest of the answers to the key questions are listed below.

 

Perideridia: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this genus.

NOT [plants with a bluish tinge; flowers in dense globose heads; bracts spiny]

plants with stem leaves; NOT [plants scapose]

lower stem leaves alternate, stem leaves sometimes opposite in the inflorescence; NOT [lower stem leaves opposite]

foliage NOT spiny

lowest leaves (and the upper) compound; NOT [lowest leaves simple]

foliage NOT digitately compound

NOT [leave usually trifoliate, leaflets palmate, 10-30 cm wide]

leaves pinnate, trifoliate, or simple; NOT [leaves palmate with 5-7 large leaflets]

leaf segments few, usually 5, long and linear; NOT [leaf segments more than 5]

leaflets mostly 1?2 mm wide; NOT [leaflets more than 2 mm wide]

leaflets entire; NOT serrate

plants NOT with axillary bulblets largely replacing flowers

inflorescence NOT bluish

umbel compound; NOT simple

umbel many-flowered; NOT few-flowered

involucral bracts small; NOT large

involucral bracts slightly or not dissected; NOT [involucral bracts pinnately dissected]

fruit about 2 mm long; NOT [fruit generally more than 2 mm long]

fruit generally 3 times as long as broad or less; NOT [fruit several times longer than broad]

fruit oblong to elliptical; NOT [fruit linear to clavate]

fruit NOT with hooked spines

 

Umbelliferae: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora leading to this family.

herbs; NOT [shrubs or trees]

plants terrestrial or semi-aquatic; NOT [plants aquatic, leaves submerged or floating]

plants NOT with colored milky juice

stems hollow

plants with more than one normal leaf

some or all leaves alternate; NOT [leaves opposite, whorled, or basal]

leaves without stipules, or having glands; NOT [leaves with stipules]

flowers in umbels

flowers with two floral rings, and with each petal distinct from the others

parts of flowers mostly in fives; NOT [parts of flowers in twos or fours]

calyx regular

stamens 10 or fewer; NOT [stamens usually more than 10]

styles 2; NOT 5

ovary inferior; NOT superior