• Su-Spin-Glo-TI
• Succulent Perennials with flattened, photosynthetic stems
• Leaves often reduced to spines
• Areoles bear glochids
• Showy Flowers with numerous tepals 
• Ovary Inferior
• A New World Family 

• Herbaceous and woody 
• Milky sap
• Monoecious 
• Reduced Flowers 
• In gland-bearing cyathia 
• Glands sometimes petaloid
• Carpels 3 parted, exerted at maturity 
• Schizocarp Fruit 

• O - 4or5 - ~ - Capsule
• 
  
• Mostly Tropical 
• Largely herbaceous here 
• Simple, opposite, Often Punctate with oil glands
• Flowers Showy Often Yellow 
• 4 or 5 parted 
• Many stamens arranged in fascicles 
• Capsule Fruit  

• AC - 5t - ~ - Legume or Loment
• Mostly Woody 
• Leaves Alternate - Bi-pinnately Compound
• Flowers Actinomorphic - 5 Parted 
• Corolla Fused 
• Many Stamens

• Woody
• Alternate, simple, Toothed 
• 5-parted actinomorphic 
• Hypanthium forms deep cup surrounding but not fused to single, superior ovary

• Herbs and woody 
• Alternate, simple or compound 
• Usually stipulate
• 5 parted perianth 
• Many seperate carpels on elongated or invaginated receptacle 
• Ovaries superior

• Mostly Woody 
• Leaves alternate, usually pinnately or bipinnately compound 
• Flowers zygomorphic
• 5 - parted Standard Wings Inside
• 10 Stamens
• Fruit a legume or loment 

• Herbs or Woody 
• Leaves Alternate Simple or Compound Usually stipulate 
• 5 parted perianth 
• Separate carpels on invaginated Hypanthium
• Ovaries Superior 
• Fruit an aggregate of follicles 

Woody 

Leaves Alternate, simple toothed 

5 parted actinomorphic flower 

Hypanthium expands in fruit 

Ovary inferior 

Fruit a pome 

Mostly Herbaceous 

Leaves alternate, Compound 

Flowers strongly zygomorphic 

5-parted 

Standard lying outside wings

Keel usually fused 

Stamens monadelphous or diadelphous 

Fruit a legume or loment 

• Mostly Large forest trees - valuable lumber and nuts 
• Leaves serrate or lobed 
• Leaf buds sharp pointed 
• Flowers small, inconspicuous 
• Fruit a nut surrounded by an involucre of fused bracts 

• Trees with alternate, simple, serrate (often doubly serrate) leaves with prominent pinnate venation 
• Flowers imperfect 
• Staminate in long, pendulous catkins, 
• Carpellate in shorter catkins 
• Fruit a nut or samara enclosed in expanded, leafy bracts or in a woody catkin 

• Small family of large trees; valuable for lumber and nuts 
• Leaves alternate, pinnately compound often aromatic 
• Flowers imperfect inconspicuous 
• Fruit a nut wholly enclosed by a dehiscent or indehiscent involucre of fused bracts 

• Trees usually with oblique leaf bases 
• Flowers inconspiciuous 
• Fruit a samara or dry drupe 

• Mostly Herbaceous vines with spiral tendrils 
• Stems and petioles often hollow 
• Leaves palmately lobed and hairy 
• Corlla fuled, 5- lobed 
• Ovary inferior 
• Fruit a pepo 

• Herbaceous 
• Ovaries inferior 
• 4-parted 
• Hypanthium tube often extended beyone ovary 
• Fruit usually a cylindrical or squarish capsule 

• Mostly herbaceous 
• Acid or acrid cell sap 
• Found mostly in cooler seasons or climates 
• Fruit usually a silicle or silique 

• Shrubs and weedy herbs 
• Often palmately lobed and veined with stellate hairs and gummy sap 
• Flowers often showy - 5 parted
• Stamens fused into a tube that surrounds style 
• Fruit a capsule or ring of fused carpels 

• Mostly herbaceous with quadrangular stems 
• Leaves opposite, aromatic 
• Flowers showy - corolla bilabiate 
• 4 stamens and 2 carpels each deeply lobed 
• Style gynobasic 
• Fruit a 4 parted schizocarp 

Mostly herbaceous 

Alternate or opposite 

Simple, entire, toothed or dissected 

Flowers usually 5 parted 

Corolla usually bilabiate 

4 stamens

2 fused carpels with numerous ovules 

Fruit a capsule 

• Mostly trees and shrubs 
• Often with coriaceous, elliptic to lanceolate leaves 
• Flowers usually 5 parted 
• Often urn shaped
• Fruit usually a capsule or berry
• If a capsule often rotating to be upright at maturity 

Brassicaceae - 4 long stamens and 2 short ones

4-parted 

Scrophulariaceae 

Usually bilabiate - 5 parted

4 stamens 

• All Habits 
• Usually have milky sap - many poisoinous 
• Often in whorls - can be alternate or opposite decussate. 
• Clavuncle (expanded style) just below stigma 
• Ovary superior 
• tube flowers with epipetalous stamens 

• Mostly herbaceous 
• Internodes are typically hallow; petioles sheath the stem 
• Leaves alternate or basal 
• Ranging from simple through lobed, dissected and compound 
• Leaflets usually toothed 
• Internal Oil canals common (scented) 
• Small 5-parted flowers in Umbels/ compound umbels 
• Sepals reduced or absent 
• Inflorescence showy usuallly white, yellow, sometimes greenish 
• Fruit a schizocarp with 2 mericarps connected by floral axis (carpophore)
• Ovary inferior 

• Herbaceous, rarely shrubs 
•   Fruit: Achene or cypsela 
• Inflo - head of florets with outer florets blooming first 

   

• Involucre of bracts 
• Bifid Stigma 

Araceae 

• Perennial herbs and vines; epiphytes with adventitious roots 
• Alternate, sometimes crowded leaves 
• Simple to lobed and occasionally compound 
• Sometimes a prophyll or raphides are present in all tissues 
• Spadix/ spathe inflorescence 
• If monoecious, then carpellate at bottom 
• Fruit a berry 
• Ovary superior 

• Floating herbaceous perennials in still water 
• No leaves - plant reduced to thallus 
• Flowers rare 

• Mostly trees and shrubs; some vines; usually unbranched 
• Alternate leaves often crowded at the apex 
• Leaves simple but splitting by mechanical action, persistent, large, pinnate or palmate, plicate in bud 
• Inflorescence large though individual flowers are small 
  Inflor usually subtended by woody spathe, 
• fruit usually one-seeded drupe or berry 
• Ovary superior  

• mostly herbaeous perennials, some woody vines 
• Leaves - alternate, whorled, or basal 
• Leave usually linear sometimes scales sometimes succulent 
• Leaf bases usually sheath the stem 
• Perennating from bulbs, corms, tubers, or rhizomes 
• Usually 6 tepals 6 stamens 
• 3-lobed stigma or 3-parted style
• Very showy 
• Fruit a loculicidal capsule or berry 
• Mostly superior 

• Mostly herbaceous perennials
• Leaves alternate or basal - equitant 
• Usually with 6 tepals and 3 petaloid styles 
• Inferior ovary 

• Grass-like perennial herbs 
• Leaves alternate, usually 3-rankded often appearing basal 
• Leaves simple usually v-shaped and keeled, high silica content 
• Aerenchyma tissue common 
• Stems TRIANGULAR 
• Flowers very reduced each subtended by bract 
• Perianth absent or as bristles 
• Superior 

Grass-like perennial herbs some annuals 

Basal or alternate leaves sometimes 3 ranked 

Simple cylindrical or flat, aerenchyyma tissue common 

Stems TERETE 

Flowers inconspicuous but slearly 3-parted TEPALS 

Superior 

• Perennial herbs, many epiphytic, some semi-aquatic 
• LeavEs arising from a sympodial series of pseudobulbs 
• Flowers usually perfect, strongly zygomorphic, ofen very large and very showy but can be minue, sometimes highly gragrant 
• Calyx usually petaloid, the perianth usually with 5 isimilar tepals + one highly differentiated petal (often called lip)
• Sometimes sepals are smaller and sometimes green or some other color
• Flowers usually resupinate