A N F Keys
1 Axes with sharp prickles derived from large-based glandular hairs
2 Leaves pinnately compound with 5−9 sessile leaflets; flowers 30−50 mm across, purplish pink to purple-rose; hypanthium urn-shaped and containing many pistils, developing as a fleshy, red-orange fruit (hip) enclosing achenes .. Rosa californica [pics]
2' Leaves appearing palmately compound with most leaflets having petiolules; flowers 18−36 mm across, white (pale pink); hypanthium dish-shaped with many helically arranged pistils on an elevated, conic receptacle, developing as a fleshy aggregate fruit of adherent drupelets (blackberrylike) .. Rubus
1' Axes lacking sharp prickles
3 Small trees or shrubs
4 Leaves compound, 20−36-foliolate and finely dissected (fernlike), densely glandular and strongly medicinal aromatic .. Chamaebatia australis [pics]
4' Leaves simple;
5 Blades needlelike or linear, 4−15 × 0.5−1.5 mm .. Adenostoma
5' Blades longer and much broader
6 Ovary inferior or hemi-inferior, becoming a fleshy pome
7 Trees with dense canopy of evergreen leaves with conspicuous teeth
8 Blades 140−400 mm long; young hairs orangey brown; panicle of cymes with flowers 21−25 mm across; petals 9−13 mm long; pomes obovoid, 30−35 mm long, yellow-orange .. Eriobotrya japonica [pics]
8' Blades 30−130 mm long; young hairs whitish; panicle of cymes with flowers 7−9 mm long; petals 2−3 mm long; pomes ovoid to spheroid, 3.5−5 mm long, red .. Heteromeles arbutifolia [pics]
7' Shrubs with evergreen or deciduous leaves entire or with inconspicuous teeth on margins
9 Leaves on spine-tipped spur shoots; blades oblanceolate to obovate, ± notched at tip, lower surface sparsely hairy to glabrate .. Pyracantha angustifolia [pics]
9' Leaves ± plagiotropic; blades broadly elliptic to ovate, not notched at tip, lower surface densely villous-tomentose .. Cotoneaster pannosus [pics]
6' Ovary superior
10 Deciduous; blades palmately lobed, with spheric glandular hairs and mildly spicy-scented; petals ± 2 mm long .. Holodiscus discolor var. discolor [pics]
10' Evergreen; blades unlobed, lacking glandular hairs
11 Blades conspicuously pinnately veined with straight, parallel lateral veins to each tooth and sunken on upper surface, margins inrolled; petals absent; fruit an achene with a long, feathery style (plumose beak) .. Cercocarpus betuloides var. betuloides [pics]
11' Blades without straight lateral veins, margins not inrolled; petals 8−11 mm long and white; fruit a fleshy drupe .. Prunus
3' Herbs
12 Delicate annuals with small, palmately lobed, fan-shaped leaves; flowers in condensed axillary clusters and inconspicuous with 1 stamen and lacking petals .. Aphanes occidentalis [pics]
12' Perennial herbs with pinnately compound leaves; flowers in dense terminal clusters
13 Plants conspicuously glandular-hairy throughout; flowers bisexual in a terminal cyme; sepals 5; petals 5; achenes many, not concealed by hypanthium
14 Foliage villous; petals yellow; stamens 20−25 .. Drymocallis glandulosa var. wrangelliana [pics]
14' Foliage not villous, sometimes with peglike hairs; petals white with pale green veins; stamens 10 .. Horkelia cuneata var. cuneata [pics]
13' Plants lacking glandular hairs and appearing nearly glabrous; flowers staminate, bisexual, and pistillate in a headlike spike; sepals 4; petals absent; fruit a stonelike hypanthium with 4 wings enclosed two achenes .. Poterium sanguisorba
1 Leaves in fascicles at nodes; stipules winglike at base of petiole; young stem smooth and lacking glands; flowers all sessile .. Adenostoma fasciculatum var. fasciculatum [pics]
1' Leaves solitary at each node; stipules absent; young stem covered with decurrent leaf bases and resinous from scattered, blisterlike glands; flowers of lower inflorescence with pedicels .. Adenostoma sparsifolium [pics]
1 Blades 16−65 mm long, distinctly spinose-toothed on margins (hollylike); petioles 4−11 mm long; stipules < 2.5 mm long; flowers ca. 8 mm across; filaments 1−2.5 mm long .. Prunus ilicifolia subsp. ilicifolia [pics]
1' Blades mostly > 65 mm long, entire to remotely toothed on margins; petioles 14−26 mm long; stipules 3−4.5 mm long; flowers 9−11 mm across; filaments 2.5−3 mm long .. Prunus ilicifolia subsp. lyonii [pics]
Rubus L.
RASPBERRY, BLACKBERRY
1 Leaves mostly palmately 3-foliolate on vigorous shoots; plants functionally dioecious, with 1−6 structurally bisexual flowers in cymes; hypanthium 3.5−5 mm long; stamens mostly 70−90 (staminate flowers); aggregate fruit with 30−40 drupelets .. Rubus ursinus [pics]
1' Leaves mostly palmately 5-foliolate on vigorous shoots; plants with bisexual flowers, with many flowers in panicles of cymes; hypanthium ca. 1.5 mm long; stamens > 125; aggregate fruit with 12−25 drupelets .. Rubus armeniacus [pics]
The text of the above keys used with permission from
A Naturalist's Flora of the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills, California
© Copyright
Barry A. Prigge and Arthur C. Gibson
2013