A.Plant with Needles. – Plant 1.
A1. Plants with leaves. – B
B. Plant with complete flowers. – C
B1. Plant with incomplete flowers, only staminates and pistillates – Plant 4
C.Plant with white petals – Plant 2
C1. Plant with purple petals – Plant 3
Dichotomous Key
Author: Dorene Asay
Dorene,
I like the flow of your key. It is clear to me what sections are intended to go where, especially with the “– Letter” at the end.
Having said that, wouldn’t needles still fall under the leaves? To avoid such confusion, you may want to try a different differentiation. Maybe leaf shape?
A thought: I wonder if the “leaves” (light green, “frilly”/pubescent) on plant 3 might actually be sepals? If this is the case, then I am not sure where the leaves are/what they look like (if this plant has any), making it possibly problematic for this key (due to it being based on the presence of leaves). However, I could be totally wrong about this. It is hard for me to tell from the photos.
I do like the use of complete vs. incomplete. However, it was difficult for me to tell definitively if plant 2 was complete. It looks like you can see anthers but I couldn’t see any stigma or styles indicative of a pistil. Could you explain how you concluded it was complete?
Thanks,
Emma S.