Leaf

• • Lobed - projecting segments of the leaf

    • Common groundsel and creeping watercress have lobed leaves

  • Serrated - forward pointing teeth along the leaf edge

    • Stinging nettle has serrated leaves

  • Simple - a leaf blade that is not divide into leaflets

    • Red root pigweed and hairy galinsoga have simple leaves

  • Compound - a leaf with two or more leaflets

    • Birdsfoot trefoil and yellow woodsorrel have compound leaves

  • Opposite - two leaves per node

    • Stinging nettle and spotted spurge have opposite leaves

  • Alternate - one leaf per node emerging on opposite sides of the node

    • Prickly lettuce and garlic mustard have alternate leaves

  • Trifoliate - 3 leaflets per leaf

    • White clover has trifoliate leaves

  • Basal rosette - a round cluster of leaves at ground level

    • Dandelion and broadleaf plantain have basal rosettes

Flowers

• • Composite - many small flowers clustered together to look like one large flower

    • Plants in the Asteraceae family have composite flowers

  • Terminal - flower or cluster of flowers occurring at the end of a stem

    • Dandelion flowers have terminal flowers

  • Axial - flower or cluster of flowers occurring along a stem

    • Creeping charlie has axial flower placement

  • Symmetry

    • Radial - many planes of symmetry

      • Plants in the Asteraceae family have radial flower symmetry (ex. bull thistle and dandelion)

    • Bilateral - one plane of symmetry

      • Plants in the Fabaceae family have bilateral flower symmetry (ex. birdsfoot trefoil)

  • Panicle - a cluster of flowers arranged along an axis, may be branched or unbranched

    • Horseweed and lamb's quarters both have a panicle

  • Umbel - a cluster of flowers that emerge from the same point

    • Queen Anne's lace has an umbel

Other

• • Rhizomes - an underground stem that grows horizontally

    • Canada thistle has rhizomes

  • Stolons - an above ground horizontal stem that grows new plants

    • Creeping charlie has stolons

  • Taproot - a swollen vertical root

    • Dandelion and common mallow have a taproot

  • Node - area on a stem where a leaf emerges