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
Axil - The upper angle between two structures or organs, as where a leaf or branch joins the stem.
Achene - A dry, usually one-seeded, indehiscent fruit.
Tripinnate - A bipinnate leaf whose pinnae are divided into a third set of leaflets.
Asymmetric - Lacking symmetry, e.g., the two halves of a leaf blade not alike.
Capitulum - An inflorescence composed of multiple florets arranged in a flower head and surrounded by an involucre of bracts as found on many species in Asteraceae.
Bract - A reduced or modified leaf occurring at the base of a flower or group of flowers. Bracts are sometimes arranged in rows, like shingles on a roof, usually closely cupping the blossoms of Asteraceae (Sunflower Family); cf. Phyllary. Sometimes brightly colored or petallike, as in Castilleja spp. (paintbrush), or threadlike, as in Daucus carota (Queen Anne's Lace). ...
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.
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.
Samara - A dry, winged, one-seeded fruit.
Tree - A woody perennial plant usually having a single main stem or trunk which generally grows more than 20 feet tall.
Rhizobia - Soil-borne bacteria which form nitrogen-rich root nodules.
Corymb - A flat-topped or convex flower cluster, with the lower or outer stems longer; the flowers on these stems open first.
Provides Nesting Materials/Structure for Native Bees - A plant that native bees nest beneath, within, or harvest parts from to construct their nests.
Dentate - Sharply toothed, with the teeth pointing straight out from the margin.
Drupe - Fruit with exocarp or skin, fleshy mesocarp and hardened endocarp with seed inside.