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Glossary of Botanical Terms

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Results 73 through 108 of 271

term	definition
Denticulate	Finely toothed.
Dioecious	With male and female reproductive structures on separate plants.
Disc flowers	The inner tubular flowers on the heads of Asteraceae (Sunflower Family).
Distal	Toward the top of a plant or the tip of a plant part. Cf, Proximal.
Drupe	Fruit with exocarp or skin, fleshy mesocarp and hardened endocarp with seed inside.
Elliptic	Shaped like an ellipse, resembling a flattened circle.
Emarginate	Having a shallow notch at the tip.
Endemic	Occurring naturally only in a single geographic area.
Entire	Said of margins without teeth or lobes.
Escape	A cultivated plant that has gone wild.
Evergreen	Remaining green and leafy through the winter.
Falcate	Sickle-shaped.
Fascicled	In a tight bundle, several leaves appearing to arise from a common point.
Fern	Any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants (pteridophytes) having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward; reproduce by spores.
Fibrous	Network of fine roots with no central dominant root.
Filament	Stalk of stamen; bears the anther.
Floret	A small flower, especially one in a dense cluster.
Florets	Small or reduced flowers.
Flower head	A dense arrangement of flowers arising from a common point, as in Apiaceae, or as in Asteraceae where many ray flowers and/or disc flowers make up one "flower head." See also, Capitulum.
FNA	Flora of North America.
Frond	The leaf of a fern.
Fruit	The seed-bearing part of a plant.
Genus	A group of related species classified within a family.
Glabrous	Smooth; hairless.
Grass/Grass-like	Having narrow leaves, usually arising from the base of the plant.
Halophyte	A plant which tolerates a salty environment.
Hastate	A triangle with two sides abruptly concave; in the form of two pointed lobes pointing outwards.
Head	A compact cluster of flowers attached to essentially the same point on the peduncle.
Herb	A plant species lacking woody tissue when mature.
Herbaceous	Herblike; not woody.
Hermaphrodite	Bisexual, having both male and female parts in the same flower.
Hermaphroditic	Having the properties of a hermaphrodite, with both male and female structures located within the same flower.
HI(I)	Introduced to Hawaii
HI(N)	Native to Hawaii
Imperfect flower	A flower bearing either stamens or pistils, but not both.
Incomplete flower	A flower lacking one or more of the following: stamens, pistils, petals, sepals.
Inferior ovary	An ovary situated below the origin of sepals and petals. In many species the ovary is below the point of attachment of all the other parts of the flower, i.e., embedded in the flower stem. It usually shows as a swelling below the flower and may be seen only by cutting through this swelling.
Inflorescence	A group of flowers and associated plant parts.
Infructescence	A group of fruits and associated parts arising from an inflorescence. An inflorescence with mature or maturing fruit.
Internode	The part of the stem between leaves or branches.
Involucel	A bract or bracts subtending an individual flower in a compound inflorescence.
Involucre	A whorl of distinct or united leaves or bracts beneath a flower or cluster of flowers commonly found especially on species in Asteraceae but also in Apiaceae, Dipsacaceae and Polygonaceae. Also a bract or bract pair subtending the inflorescence of some members of Betulaceae, especially Carpinus and Corylus.
Irregular flower	A flower unequal in the size, form, or union of its similar parts; zygomorphic or bilaterally symmetrical. Example: Fabaceae (Legume Family).
IUCN	International Union for Conservation of Nature.
L48(I)	Introduced to the continental United States
L48(N)	Native to the continental United States
L48(NI)	Native and Introduced to the continental United States
Laciniate	Fringed or having edges irregularly and finely slashed.
Lanceolate	Having the shape of a spear-head or lance.
Leafless	Without leaves.
Leaflet	A division or part of a compound leaf.
Legume	Any of a large group of plants in the pea family (Fabaceae).
Lenticel	A corky pore in young bark.
Lobe	Part or segment of a flower or leaf; a deep indentation that does not break the continuity of the structure.
Lobed flower	A tubular or funnel shaped flower that opens into petal like lobes.
Lobed leaf	A leaf with indentations not more than halfway to the midrib, with the tips of the segments rounded.
Lyrate	A pinnately divided leaf with an enlarged terminal lobe.
MB	Manitoba
Midrib	The main or central rib or vein of a leaf.
Monoecious	A plant or plant species producing male and female reproductive structures on the same plant but on separate flowers.
Mucronate	Leaf apex with short spiny tip.
Native	A plant that lives or grows naturally in a particular region without direct or indirect human intervention.
NB	New Brunswick
Nectar	A sweet fluid produced in flowers.
Needle	The long and narrow leaf of pines and related species.
NL	Newfoundland and Labrador
Node	The place on a stem where leaves or branches normally originate; a swollen or knoblike structure.
NS	Nova Scotia
NT	Northwest Territories
NU	Nunavut
Nut	A dry fruit with one seed and a thick hard wall.
Obcordate	Inversely cordate, heart-shaped with petiole attached to point.
Oblanceolate	Inversely lanceolate with top wider than bottom.
Oblique	Leaf shows asymmetry at the base.
Oblong	Much longer than broad with sides nearly parallel.
Obovate	Inversely ovate, with the narrower end of the leaf blade toward the branch.
Obtuse	Blunt or rounded at the tip.
ON	Ontario
Opposite	Said of leaves originating in pairs at a node, with the members of each pair opposite each other on the stem.
Orbicular	Circular or nearly so.
Oval	Having the general form, shape, or outline of an egg; egg-shaped.
Ovary	The basal part of the pistil, bearing the ovules, which later develop into seeds. See also Inferior ovary; Superior ovary.
Ovate	Shaped like an egg, with the narrow end at the apex.
Palmate	Divided or radiating from one point, resembling a hand with the fingers spread. Leaves may be palmately compound and/or palmately lobed; they may also have palmate venation.
Palmately compound	Leaflets radiating from one point, resembling a hand with the fingers spread. Leaves may also be palmately lobed or have palmate venation.
Panicle	A branched raceme; a raceme of racemes.
Pappus	The calyx modifications found on many species of Asteraceae (Sunflower Family), commonly appearing as hairs, bristles, or scales, and usually persisting on the fruit.
Parallel	A leaf whose veins run in parallel from the stem.
Parallel venation	Main veins running from base to apex of leaf.
Part Shade	Part shade is classified as a garden receiving 4-6 hours of sun with dappled shade from trees or as approximately 4 hours of sun with shade either in the morning or afternoon. Part shade and part sun are used interchangeably by the horticulture industry.
PE	Prince Edward Island
Pedicel	The stalk of a single flower in a cluster of flowers.
Peduncle	The stalk of a solitary flower or of a cluster of flowers.
Peltate	Leaf shape that is round or rounded with the petiole attachment on the abaxial leaf surface and not on a leaf edge.
Pendulous	Suspended, hanging.
Perennial	A plant or plant species with a normal life cycle exceeding two years.
Perfect	A flower with both male and female reproductive organs; bisexual, hermaphroditic or monoclinous.
Perfoliate	A leaf with the base united around the stem.
Perianth	Collective term for petals and sepals (corolla and calyx).
Petal	Unit of the corolla.
Petiole	A leaf stem.
Petiolule	The stalk of the leaflet of a compound leaf.
Phyllary	A term sometimes used for individual bracts below the head of flowers in Asteraceae (Sunflower Family), so designated to avoid confusion with bracts on the flower stem.
Pinnae	(Pinna, sing.) A division of a pinnately compound leaf.
Pinnate	Arranged along an axis. Leaves may be pinnately compound (see below) and/or pinnately lobed; they may also have pinnate venation, with veins extending from the midrib.
Pinnately Compound	Leaves with leaflets opposite each other on each side of the midrib. They may be oddly pinnate, ending with a leaflet at the tip, or evenly pinnate, with no leaflet at the end. These leaflets may be twice compound (Bipinnate), like the leaves on sensitive briars (Mimosa spp.).
Pistil	The seed-producing or female organ, consisting of ovary, style, and stigma; usually located in the center of the flower.
Pistillate flower	A flower with pistils, but no stamens.

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Results 73 through 108 of 271