|
Term
|
Definition
|
| Achene |
one seeded dry indehiscent fruit |
| Acuminate |
long pointed, with narrow point |
| Acute |
pointed |
| Adnate |
attached the whole length |
| Alternate |
with one leaf at each stem node and pointing in different directions |
| Anther |
the male part of the flower containing pollen |
| Aristate |
with a bristle like projection |
| Awn |
bristle like projection, as in the flowering part of grasses |
| Berry |
fleshy single to many seeded fruit |
| Bifid |
split deeply in two |
| Bract |
scale or leaf-like upper leaf surrounding a flower or inflorescence |
| Bracteole |
small scale-like, often membranous bract, occurring on flower stalks |
| Bulb |
underground organ composed of densely packed fleshy scale leaves. |
| Calyx |
the sepals as a whole; either composed of spreading or reflexed free spirals, usually green in colour, or else combined in a calyx tube |
| Campanulate |
bell shaped |
| Capitate |
shaped like a head, head -like |
| Capsule |
dry fruit, consisting of several carpals, opening by pores or slits |
| Carpels |
the basic unit of the female reproductive organ of a flower, the gynoecium. A flower may have zero, one, or more carpels. Multiple carpels may combine into a single pistil, or into multiple pistils.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpel |
| Cone |
the 'fruit' of coniferous trees, consisting of numerous overlapping scales |
| Connate |
joined together at the base |
| Cordate |
heart-shaped with point at the tip |
| Corolla |
the petals as a whole, free or combined |
| Crenate |
with a notched or scalloped margin |
| Culm |
flowering stem of grasses |
| Cyme |
inflorescence with growing points terminated by flowers, and having a terminal flower |
| Dentate |
toothed |
| Dichotomous |
branching in two |
| Dioecious |
male and female flowers on different plants |
| Drupe |
fruit with a fleshy exterior and inner stone like wall to the seed |
| Emarginated |
notched |
| Epicalyx |
calyx-like structure of several bracts close under the calyx |
| Filament |
the stalk below the anther in a stamen |
| Follicle |
fruit consisting of 1 carpel which opens only along 1 side |
| Glabrous |
without hairs of any sort |
| Glandular hairs |
have a small gland at the tip |
| Glume |
tough membranous leaf-like part of the flower of grasses, often with an awn |
| Halophyte |
plants of sandy soil |
| Head or capitulum |
flowers are densely packed into a compact head |
| Imbricate |
overlapping |
| Indehiscent |
seed heads in which the seeds are not enclosed in a pod
http://theseedsite.co.uk/botany.html |
| Inflorescence |
a flower branch or the part of the stem that carries the flowers |
| Involucre |
a collection of bracts |
| Keel |
the lowest petal and the wings are the two side petals |
| Lanceolate |
spear shaped |
| Leaf axil |
angle between leaf and stem |
| Leaf blade |
the broader
lower part of a leaf, usually flat |
| Leaf sheath |
the broadened lower part of a leaf which enclosed the stem in a tube or pouch |
| Leaflet |
part of a compound leaf |
| Lemma |
a bract in the grass family |
| Ligule |
a small extension at the junction of the leaf sheath and blade (e.g., in grasses) |
| Limb |
the broader part of a petal |
| Lobed |
divided, but not into separate parts; some leaves have an enlarged terminal lobe |
| Mericarp |
one seeded section of a dry fruit |
| Monoecious |
flowers occur on the same plant male and female |
| Nectary |
nectar secreting glands that occur in various parts of the flower and attract insects |
| Obcordate |
heart-shaped, with the stalk in the notch, opposite to cordate |
| Obovate |
egg shaped, but upside-down, with the broadest part above |
| Opposite |
with one leaf on each side of the same stem node |
| Ovate |
egg shaped |
| Palmate or digitate |
branched or lobed like the fingers of a hand |
| Panicle |
branched in fluorescence with stalked flowers
|
| Pappus |
hairs or bristles on the fruit of many compositae, taking the place of the calyx |
| Paripinnate |
pinnate without and terminal leaflet (i.e. the number of leaflets is even) |
| Pedicel |
stalk of a flower in an inflorescent |
| Perianth |
The floral
envelope, consisting of the calyx and corolla (when present), whatever their form.
http://glossary.gardenweb.com/glossary/perianth |
| Peduncle |
stalk of a flower or inflorescence |
| Petal |
an inner perianth segment; petals are usually brightly coloured and surround a flower's reproductive organs |
| Petiole |
stalk of the leaf blade |
| Pinnate |
In two opposite rows along a common axis (e.g. of compound leaves) |
| Pinnatisect |
pinnately divided almost the midrib, but not into separate leaflets |
| Pod |
dry fruit consisting of one carpal, opening by a seam around both sides |
| Prickles |
hard prickly out growths of the outer surface of leaf and stem |
| Procum bent |
growing along the ground |
| Raceme |
an elongated florescence with stalked flowers, usually with a terminal flower |
| Reniform |
kidney shaped |
| Reticulate veined |
with veins in a network |
| Rhizome |
rootstock, a creeping underground stem |
| Rosette |
an arrangement of leaves, usually at the base of the stem |
| Sagittate |
arrow-head shaped |
| Scarious |
thin dry and not green |
| Schizocarp |
dry fruit that falls into several seeded sections (mericarps) when ripe |
| Sepal |
an outer perianth segment; known as calyx |
| Serrate |
saw edged with sharp teeth |
| Sessile |
without a leaf stalk |
| Siliqua |
fruit of the Cruciferae- more than three times long as wide |
| Spadix |
a fleshy spike, often with a club shaped appendage at the tip |
| Spathe |
a sheath enclosing an inflorescence |
| Spathulate |
spoon shape |
| Spike |
elongated inflorescence with sessile flowers |
| Stamen |
the pollen bearing male organ of a flower, consisting of a filament and an anther |
| Staminode |
a modified stamen that does not contain pollen |
| Stigrna |
tip of the style that receives pollen |
| Stipule |
scale or leaf-like appendage at the bases of the petiole, usually paired |
| Style |
the stalk that connects the ovary and the stigma in the female flower; styles lie in the centre of the flower |
| Tendril |
fragile structure, often spirally twisted, for attachment, developed out of a leaf or leaflet |
| Terete |
circular in cross section |
| Terminal |
at the end |
| Throat |
limb or mouth of corolla |
| Trifoliate |
having three leaflets |
| Tuber |
fleshy thickened part of root or stem |
| Tubercle |
a small swelling |
| Umbel |
umbrella shaped inflorescence, with flower stalks all rising from the same point |
| Unisexual |
a flower either with stamens (male flowers) or with ovaries (female flowers) only |
| Villous |
long, woolly, hairy, shaggy |
| Viscide |
sticky |
| Whorled or verticillate |
describes an arrangement with more than 2 leaves or flowers at each node |
| Xerophyte |
a plant of dry habitat (e.g. desert) |
| Zygomorphic |
Corollas divided into equal halves by one plane only, upper and lower parts are different |