| 1 | Stems developed; leaves not in a basal rosette |
| 1' | Stems not developed, or very short; leaves in a basal rosette |
| 2 | Leaves alternate |
| 2' | Leaves opposite |
| 3 | Leaves sparsely pilose or glabrescent; plant annual |
| 3' | Leaves silky-hairy, silvery; plant perennial with a tough, woody rootstock |
| 4 | Lowermost bracts similar to upper; whole plant viscid-glandular; leaves not fleshy |
| 4' | Lowermost bracts foliaceous, much larger and more conspicuous than the upper; whole plant not viscid-glandular; leaves fleshy |
| 5 | Inflorescences 10-15(-20) mm long, cylindrical to ovoid; lowermost bracts usually much shorter than spike |
| 5' | Inflorescences 4-8 mm long, more or less globose; lowermost bracts usually as long as spike or longer |
| 6 | Bracts and sepals conspicuously hairy or lanuginose |
| 6' | Bracts and sepals sometimes ciliate, but not conspicuously hairy or lanuginose |
| 7 | Scapes strongly ribbed, usually much longer than leaves; inflorescences conspicuously silky-hairy |
| 7' | Scapes obscurely ribbed or terete, often shorter than leaves, or not much exceeding them; inflorescences hairy or woolly, but not conspicuously silky |
| 8 | Bracts and corolla-lobes broadly and bluntly ovate-orbicular; leaves tapering to a slender apex, commonly with a few, conspicuous, upward-pointing marginal teeth |
| 8' | Bracts and corolla-lobes ovate-acute or ovate-acuminate; leaves entire or subentire, acute but not long-acuminate |
| 9 | Corolla-lobes broadly ovate, shortly acuminate; inflorescence subglobose or semi-globose, woolly; scapes thickening and becoming rigidly revolute in fruit |
| 9' | Corolla-lobes ovate-acuminate, acumen often long and slender; inflorescences ovoid or cylindrical, hairy but scarcely woolly; scapes not much thickened nor rigidly revolute in fruit |
| 10 | Scapes conspicuously ribbed; bracts usually long-acuminate; abaxial sepals connate almost to apex |
| 10' | Scapes terete or obscurely striate; bracts not long-acuminate; abaxial sepals free |
| 11 | Inflorescence a subglobose or shortly oblong spike |
| 11' | Inflorescence a narrow, cylindrical or caudate spike |
| 12 | Corolla-lobes broadly ovate or almost orbicular, c. 2 mm wide; median nerve ending in apex of bract |
| 12' | Corolla-lobes ovate-acute, c. 0.8 mm wide; median nerve of bract shortly excurrent |
| 13 | Leaves broadly ovate or elliptical |
| 13' | Leaves not as above |
| 14 | Fruit capsule with 4-14(-17) seeds, dehiscing in the middle or above; seeds (1.0-)1.2-1.8(-2,1) mm long; leaves entire or remotely dentate |
| 14' | Fruit capsule with (4-)9-35(-46) seeds, dehiscing in the lower third; seeds (0.6-)0.8-1.2(-1.5) mm long; leaves irregularly dentate or lobed in the lower half |
| 15 | Leaves elongate, narrowly linear, entire or subentire, fleshy; bracts and sepals not conspicuously ciliate |
| 15' | Leaves usually pinnatisect or lobed, not fleshy; bracts and sepals usually conspicuously ciliate |
