Native Plants
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BOTANICAL GLOSSARY
Glossary of commonly used botanical terms and their definitions. Use the search bar below to look up a botanical term.
15 Random Botanical Terms
Sinus - The depression or recess between two lobes.
UPL - Upland - Nonhydrophyte. Almost never occurs in wetlands.
Dentate - Sharply toothed, with the teeth pointing straight out from the margin.
Scape - A naked flower stem rising from the ground.
Escape - A cultivated plant that has gone wild.
Sagittate - Shaped like an arrowhead.
Taproot - A single main root that grows vertically into the ground.
Vein - A rib of tissue, usually in a leaf.
Floret - A small flower, especially one in a dense cluster.
Shrub - A low growing, usually less than 15 feet, woody perennial plant without a central stem.
Alternate - Placed singly at different heights on the stem; not opposite or whorled.
Nectar - A sweet fluid produced in flowers.
Sepals - Parts that surround the petals, stamens, and pistil; usually green and leaflike. Sometimes they are the same size, shape, and color as the petals; as in Cooperia pedunculata (rain lily), in which case both sepals and petals are called sepals.
Endemic - Occurring naturally only in a single geographic area.
Deciduous - Having leaves that all fall off at the end of the growing season, or at least wither up and become lifeless.