| | 1. Annual, perennial herb, or subshrub; stems 1–several, prostrate to erect; calyx generally bilateral (1 lobe generally larger), lobes generally hooded and keeled, horned, or wing-margined; stigmas glabrous, from top of rounded to lenticular ovary; seeds horizontal, lenticular and shiny, or flat and dull (sect. Heterosperma) |
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| | 2. Annual; calyx lobes with horns and lateral wings; California |
| S. calceoliformis |
| | 2' Perennial or subshrub; calyx lobes with hoods and keels, horns and wings 0; South Coast |
| S. esteroa |
| | 1' Subshrub or shrub; stems generally several from woody base; calyx ± radial, lobes generally rounded, hooded or keeled, not horned or wing-margined; stigmas hairy-papillate, from pit in top of neck-like extension of ovary; seeds horizontal or vertical, lenticular and shiny (sect. Limbogermen) |
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| | 3. Bracts generally < leaves, generally not overlapping or covering internodes at stem tips; old leaf scars on stems and branches ± smooth; seeds < 1 mm; flowers ± 1–2.5 mm, generally on upper branches; inflorescence branches slender, 0.7–2 mm diam; generally interior |
| S. nigra |
| | 3' Bracts generally = leaves, overlapping, covering internodes at stem tips; old leaf bases on stems knobby; seeds > 1 mm; flowers 1–4 mm, generally throughout plant; inflorescence branches coarse, 1–4 mm diam; coastal |
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| | 4. Plant glabrous or sparsely hairy, generally green; ovary ± conic, without obvious neck; salt marshes, Central Coast |
| S. californica |
| | 4' Plant generally densely hairy, glaucous; ovary pear-shaped with obvious neck; coastal bluffs, margins of salt marshes, South Coast, Channel Islands |
| S. taxifolia
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