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• Amberboa moschata

Amberboa moschata — sweet sultan

Facts

An introduction from central Asia, sweet sultan has been cultivated since the 1600s, and many cultivars exist. It apparently only occasionally escapes from gardens. In New England, it has been collected from the wild only in Maine.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats)

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bases of bract appendages

  NA

  Bract cycle number

  there are three or more cycles of bracts

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are hairy, with simple hairs on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are linear (long and very narrow)
  • the main bracts are oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)
  • the main bracts are of a different shape than the given options
  • the main bracts are ovate (egg-shaped)

  Bract spines

  the bracts have no spines

  Bract texture

  the bracts appear leathery or hardened

  Bract tip color

  the tips are a different color from the center of the bract

  Bract tip extension appearance

  the projections from the bract tips are simple, but may be a different color than the bract

  Bract tip extension edge

  there are projections from the bract tips

  Bract tip shape

  the tips of the bracts are obtuse (have a blunt point)

  Bract width

  3–7

  Bracts

  there are at least two distinct forms of bracts in different cycles

  Disk flower color

  • blue to purple
  • pink to red
  • white
  • yellow

  Disk flower lobe number

  5

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  the disk flower has both pollen- and seed-producing parts

  Disk flower shape

  the disk flower is tube-shaped (cylindrical), or gradually widening like a funnel

  Flower head number

  each flowering stem has only one to three flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has fine, short hairs on it

  Flower head platform surface

  NA

  Flower head position

  each of the flower heads is separate on its own peduncle (stalk), not clustered in groups

  Flower head profile

  the disk is flat or nearly flat across the top

  Flower head shape

  NA

  Flower head width

  50 mm

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has disk flowers only, and lacks the strap-shaped flowers

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  the inflorescence is flat-topped in profile

  Ovary attachment

  the ovary is attached at the side near the base, rather than at the base

  Ovary cross-section

  • the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section
  • the ovary is compressed (flattened)

  Ovary hair type

  the ovary has hairs on it, but the hairs have no glands

  Ovary hairs

  the ovary has hairs on it

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)

  Ovary surface

  the ovary surface is textured with tiny points, bumps or wrinkles

  Ray flower color

  • blue to purple
  • pink to red
  • white

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  • the ray flowers have carpels or stamens, but not both
  • there are neither carpels nor stamens in the ray flowers

  Ray flowers

  0

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant contain both carpels and stamens

  Scale tip

  NA

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is a cycle of much smaller bracts outside the cycle of larger and longer bracts

  Style branch number

  the style has two branches

  Style branches

  the style branch is narrow at the tip, or the style branches are narrow at the tips

  Width of flower head base

  12–20 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Dispersal unit

  the seeds fall off or are dispersed separately from one another

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  3.5–4 mm

  Seed hair tuft bases

  NA

  Seed hair tuft color

  NA

  Seed hair tuft details

  NA

  Seed hair tuft length

  0–5 mm

  Seed hair tuft tips

  NA

  Seed hairs uniform

  NA

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of flat scales that are not split or frayed at the tips

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  • NA
  • there is no plume, or the plume is made up of scales, awns, a crown, or a rim

• Glands or sap

  Leaf blade glands

  the leaf blades have no glandular (translucent) dots or scales

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Horizontal rooting stem

  there are no stolons

  Plant lifespan

  • the plant is annual, it lacks evidence of previous years' growth
  • the plant is biennial, it appears as either first year (non-reproductive) plants or second year plants with flowers or fruit

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  • the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  • the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  • alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem
  • basal: the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant

  Leaf blade base

  • the leaf has a distinct petiole
  • the leaf has no petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow

  Leaf blade edges

  • the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade flatness

  the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges

  Leaf blade length

  100–250 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)
  • the leaf blade is oblanceolate (lance-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is obtuse (bluntly pointed)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  15–20 mm

  Leaf disposition

  • the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem
  • the lower leaves are larger, toothier, and/or on longer stalks than the upper leaves

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  • the leaves have leaf stalks
  • the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem

  Leaf tip extension

  NA

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  Maine

  Specific habitat

  man-made or disturbed habitats

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant has a pleasant odor, such as licorice, fruit or resin

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  • NA
  • the hairs point mostly upwards to outwards

  Stem internode hair type

  • at least some of the hairs on the stem are tangled, matted or woolly
  • the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem internode hairs

  • the stem has hairs between the nodes
  • the stem has no hairs between the nodes

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae