Native Plants
Botanical Glossary
Glossary of commonly used botanical terms and their definitions.
| term | definition | image |
| 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.jpg |
| 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. | |
| 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. | pinnate.jpg |
| 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.). | pinnate.jpg |
| 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. | |
| Pith | The spongy tissue in the center of a stem. | |
| Pod | A dry fruit that splits after ripening, a term applied to fruits in the Legume Family. | pod.jpg |
| Prickle | A sharp process on the surface of a twig or leaf, an outgrowth. | |
| Prostrate | Lying flat on the ground. | |
| Provides Nesting Materials/Structure for Native Bees | A plant that native bees nest beneath, within, or harvest parts from to construct their nests. | |
| Proximal | Toward the base of a plant or the point of attachment of a plant part. Cf, Distal. | |
| Pubescent | Said of stems or leaves with soft hairs. | |
| Quadrifidus | Divided into four parts. | |
| Raceme | An inflorescence in which each flower is attached to the main stalk by a short stem (pedicel). The youngest flowers, at the tip, may continue to develop while those below are forming fruit. | |
| Rachis | The axis of a pinnately compound leaf. | |
| Radial asymmetry | The flower can be cut into two equal halves in many ways, provided that the plane of cutting passes through the center. | |
| Ray | The outer irregular flowers in the heads of many Compositae (Sunflower Family). Each has a single, tongue-shaped corolla. | |
| Receptacle | End of stem to which flowers are attached. lFig. 1) | |
| Regular flower | A flower equal in size, form, and union of its similar parts; radially symmetrical. Example: Solanaceae (Potato Family). | |
| Reniform | Kidney-shaped. | |
| Retuse | Having a rounded apex with a central depression. | |
| Rhizobia | Soil-borne bacteria which form nitrogen-rich root nodules. | |
| Rhizobium | Soil-borne bacteria which form nitrogen-rich root nodules. | |
| Rhizome | A horizontal underground stem. | |
| Rib (of cactus) | A ridge; a raised surface running vertically or sometimes spiraling, and bearing areoles in a row along its summit. Often thought of as being composed of more or less united tubercles which may be evident as bulging masses along it. | |
| Rosette | An arrangement of leaves radiating from the stem at a nearly common level, frequently at or just above the ground line. | |
| Runcinate | Leaf having incised margins with the lobes or teeth curved toward the base. | |
| Sagittate | Shaped like an arrowhead. | |
| Samara | A dry, winged, one-seeded fruit. | |
| Sap | Watery fluid that circulates through a plant carrying sugars, minerals and nutrients. | |
| Scabrous | Rough to the touch. | |
| Scape | A naked flower stem rising from the ground. | |
| term | definition | image |