Native Plants
Botanical Glossary
Glossary of commonly used botanical terms and their definitions.
| term | definition | image |
| Stipules | Leaflike structures that grow where the leaf is attached to the stem. | |
| Stolon | A horizontal above ground stem. | |
| Style | The stalk-like part of the pistil, connecting the ovary and the stigma. | |
| Subshrub | Shorter than a shrub, often weakly woody and persisting for only a few years. | |
| Superior ovary | An ovary situated above the origin of sepals and petals. | |
| Supports Conservation Biological Control | A plant that attracts predatory or parasitoid insects that prey upon pest insects. | |
| Tap | The main, central root of a plant. | |
| Taproot | A single main root that grows vertically into the ground. | |
| Tendril | A slender coiling or twining structure modified from a leaf, branch, or other organ. | |
| Tepals | Collective term for sepals and petals when sepals are petal-like, as in Cooperia pedunculata (rain lily). | |
| Thorn | A sharp-pointed structure formed by a modified branch. | |
| Threatened | An animal or plant species likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. | |
| Toothed | Said of petals or leaves having margins more or less sharply indented. | |
| Tree | A woody perennial plant usually having a single main stem or trunk which generally grows more than 20 feet tall. | |
| Trifoliate | Having three leaflets. | trifoliate.jpg |
| Tripinnate | A bipinnate leaf whose pinnae are divided into a third set of leaflets. | |
| Truncate | Ending abruptly, e.g., a leaf blade squared at the base. | |
| Tubercle | A more or less pyramidal knob rising from the stem surface of a cactus and having an areole on or near its summit. | |
| Twig | A small branch. | |
| Two lipped flower | A flower that has an upper and a lower division, as in Labiatae (Mint Family). | |
| Umbel | A rounded or flat topped cluster of flowers on stems that radiate from the tip of the main stem. A compound umbel has smaller umbels at the ends of the radiating stems. | |
| Unisexual | A flower that possesses either stamens or carpels but not both. | |
| UPL | Upland - Nonhydrophyte. Almost never occurs in wetlands. | |
| UPL* | Upland - Nonhydrophyte. Almost never occurs in wetlands. Occurs only in the South Pacific Islands subregion. | |
| Vein | A rib of tissue, usually in a leaf. | |
| term | definition | image |