An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions/Glossary of Special Terms
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A
[edit]Acaulescent. | With stem subterranean, or nearly so. |
Accumbent. | Cotyledons with margins folded against the hypocotyl. |
Achene. | A dry one-seeded indehiscent fruit with the pericarp tightly fitting around the seed. |
Acicular. | Needle-shaped. |
Acuinate. | Gradually tapering to the apex. |
Acute. | Sharp pointed |
Adnate. | An organ adhering to a contiguous differing one; an anther attached longitudinally to the end of the filament. |
Adventive. | Not indigenous, but apparently becoming naturalized. |
Albumen. | See Endosperm. |
Alliaceous. | Onion-like, in aspect or odor. |
Alternate. | Not opposite; with a single leaf at each node. |
Alveolate. | Like honeycomb; closely pitted. |
Ament. | A spike of imperfect flowers subtended by scarious bracts, as in the willows. |
Amphibious. | At times inhabiting the water. |
Amphitropous. | Term applied to the partly inverted ovule. |
Amplexicaul. | Clasping the stem, or other axis. |
Anastomosing. | Connecting so as to form a well-defined network. |
Anatropous. | Applied to an inverted ovule with the micropyle very near the hilum. |
Androgynous. | Flower clusters having staminate and pistillate flowers; in Carex, a spike with upper flowers staminate and lower pistillate. |
Angiospermous. | Pertaining to the Angiospermae; bearing seeds within a pericarp. |
Anther. | The part of the stamen which contains the pollen. |
Antherid. | The male organ of reproduction in Pteridophyta and Bryophyta. |
Anthesis. | Period of flowering. |
Apetalous. | Without a corolla. |
Aphyllopodic. | In Carex, with lower leaves bladeless or with rudimentary leaves only. |
Apical. | At the top, or referring to the top. |
Apiculate. | With a minute pointed tip. |
Appressed. | Lying against another organ. |
Arborescent. | Tree-like, in size or shape. |
Archegone. | The female reproductive organ in Pteridophyta and Bryophyta. |
Areolate. | Reticulated. |
Areolation. | The system of meshes in a network of veins. |
Areole. | A mesh in a network of veins. |
Aril. | A fleshy organ growing about the hilum. |
Arillate. | Provided with an aril. |
Aristate. | Tipped by an awn or bristle. |
Aristulate. | Diminutive of aristate. |
Ascending. | Growing obliquely upward, or upcurved. |
Asexual. | Without sex. |
Assurgent. | See Ascending. |
Auricled. (Auriculate) |
with basal ear-like lobes. |
Awn. | A slender bristle-like organ. |
Axil. | The point on a stem immediately above the base of a leaf. |
Axile. | In the axis of an organ. |
Axillary. | Borne at, or pertaining to an axil. |
B
[edit]Baccate. | Berry-like. |
Barbellate. | Furnished with minute barbs. |
Basifixed. | Attached by the base. |
Berry. | A fruit with pericarp wholly pulpy. |
Bilabiate. | With two lips. |
Bipinnate. | Twice pinnate. |
Bipinnatifid. | Twice pinnatifid. |
Blade. | The flat expanded part of a leaf. |
Bract. | A leaf, usually small, subtending a flower or flower-cluster, or a sporange. |
Bracteate. | With bracts. |
Bracteolate. | Having hractlets. |
Bractlet. | A secondary bract, borne on a pedicel, or immediately beneath a flower; sometimes applied to minute bracts. |
Bulb. | A bud with fleshy scales, usually subterranean. |
Bulblet. | A small bulb, especially those borne on leaves, or in their axils. |
Bulbous. | Similar to a bulb; bearing bulbs. |
C
[edit]Caducous. | Falling away very soon after development. |
Caespitose. | Growing in tufts. |
Callosity. | A small, hard protuberance. |
Callus. | An extension of the inner scale of a grass spikelet; a protuberance. |
Calyx. | The outer of two series of floral leaves. |
Campanulate. | Bell-shaped. |
Campylotropous. | Term applied to the curved ovule. |
Cancellate. | Reticulated, with the meshes sunken. |
Canescent. | With gray or hoary fine pubescence. |
Canaliculate. | Channelled; longitudinal1y grooved. |
Capitate. | Arranged in a head; knob-like. |
Capsular. | Pertaining to or like a capsule. |
Capsule. | A dry fruit of two carpels or more, usually dehiscent by valves or teeth. |
Carinate. | Keeled; with a longitudinal ridge. |
Carpel. | The modified leaf forming the ovary, or a part of a compound ovary. |
Caruncle. | An appendage to a seed at the hilum. |
Carunculate. | With a caruncle. |
Caryopsis. | The grain; fruit of grasses, with a thin pericarp adherent to the seed. |
Caudate. | With a slender tail-like appendage. |
Caudex. | The persistent base of perennial herbs, usually only the part above ground. |
Caudicle. | Stalk of a pollen-mass in the Orchid and Milkweed Families. |
Cauline. | Pertaining to the stem. |
Cell. | A cavity of an anther or ovary. |
Chaff. | Thin dry scales. |
Chalaza. | The base of the ovule. |
Chartaceous. | Papery in texture. |
Chlorophyll. | Green coloring matter of plants. |
Chlorophyllous. | Containing chlorophyll. |
Ciliate. | Provided with marginal hairs. |
Ciliolate. | Minutely ciliate. |
Cilium. | A hair. |
Cinereous. | Ashy; ash-colored. |
Circinnate. | Coiled downward from the apex. |
Circumscissile. | Transversely dehiscent, the top falling away as a lid. |
Clavate. | Club-shaped. |
Cleistogamous. | Flowers which do not open but are pollinated from their own anthers. |
Cleft. | Cut about halfway to the midvein. |
Clinandrium. | Cavity between the anther-sacs in orchids. |
Cochleate. | Like a snail shell. |
Coma. | Tuft of hairs at the ends of some seeds. |
Commissure. | The contiguous surfaces of two carpels. |
Conduplicate. | Folded lengthwise. |
Confluent. | Blended together. |
Connate. | Similar organs more or less united. |
Connective. | The end of the filament, between the anther-sacs. |
Connivent. | Converging. |
Convolute. | Rolled around or rolled up longitudinally. |
Coralloid. | Resembling coral. |
Cordate. | Heart-shaped. |
Coriaceous. | Leathery in texture. |
Corm. | A swollen fleshy base of a stem. |
Corolla. | The inner of two series of floral leaves. |
Corona; Crown. | An appendage of the corolla; a crown-like margin at the top of an organ. |
Coroniform. | Crown-like. |
Corymb. | A convex or flat-topped flower-cluster of the racemose type with pedicels or rays arising from different points on the axis. |
Corymbose. | Borne in corymbs; corymb-like. |
Costate. | Ribbed. |
Cotyledon. | A rudimentary leaf of the embryo. |
Crenate. | Scalloped; with rounded teeth. |
Crenulate. | Diminutive of crenate. |
Crustaceous. | Hard and brittle. |
Cucullate. | Hooded, or resembling a hood. |
Culm. | The stem of grasses and sedges. |
Cuneate. | Wedge-shaped. |
Cusp. | A sharp stiff point. |
Cuspidate. | Sharp-pointed; ending in a cusp. |
Cyme. | A convex or flat flower-cluster of the determinate type, the central flowers first unfolding. |
Cymose. | Arranged in cymes; cyme-like. |
D
[edit]Deciduous. | Falling away at the close of the growing period. |
Decompound. | More than once-divided. |
Decumbent. | Stems or branches in an inclined position, but the end ascending. |
Decurrent. | Applied to the prolongation of an organ, or part of an organ running along the sides of another. |
Deflexed. | Turned abruptly downward. |
Dehiscence. | The opening of an ovary, anther-sac or sporange to emit the contents. |
Dehiscent. | Opening to emit the contents. |
Deltoid. | Broadly triangular, like the Greek letter delta, Δ. |
Dentate. | Toothed, especially with outwardly projecting-teeth. |
Denticulate. | Diminutive of dentate. |
Depauperate. | Impoverished, small. |
Depressed. | Vertically f1attened. |
Dextrorse. | Spirally ascendmg to the rIght. |
Diadelphous. | Stamens united into two sets. |
Diandrous. | Having two stamens. |
Dichotomous. | Forking regularly into two nearly equal branches or segments. |
Dicotyledonous. | With two cotyledons. |
Didymous. | Twin-like; of two nearly equal segments. |
Diffuse. | Loosely spreading. |
Digitate. | Diverging, like the fingers spread. |
Dimorphous. | Of two forms. |
Dioecious. | Bearing staminate flowers or antherids on one plant, and pistillate flowers or archegones on another of the same species. |
Discoid. | Heads of Compositae composed only of tubular flowers, rayless; like a disk. |
Disk. | An enlargement or prolongation of the receptacle of a flower around the base of the pistil; the head of tubular flowers in Compositae. |
Dissected. | Divided into many segments or lobes. |
Dissepiment. | A partition-wall of an ovary or fruit. |
Distichous. | Arranged in two rows. |
Distinct. | Separate from each other; evident. |
Divaricate. | Diverging at a wide angle. |
Divided. | Cleft to the base or to the mid-nerve. |
Dorsal. | On the back, or pertaining to the back. |
Drupaceous. | Drupe-like. |
Drupe. | A simple fruit, usually indehiscent with fleshy exocarp and bony endocarp. |
Drupelet. | Diminutive of drupe. |
E
[edit]Echinate. | Prickly. |
Ellipsoid. | A solid body, elliptic in section. |
Elliptic. | With the outline of an ellipse; oval. |
Emarginate. | Notched at the apex. |
Embryo. | A rudimentary plant in the seed. |
Embryo-sac. | The macrospore of the flowering plants, contained in the ovule. |
Endocarp. | The inner layer of the pericarp. |
Endogenous. | Forming new tissue within. |
Endosperm. | The substance surrounding the embryo of a seed; albumen. |
Ensiform. | Shaped like a broad sword. |
Entire. | Without divisions, lobes, or teeth. |
Ephemeral. | Continuing for only a day or less. |
Epigynous. | Adnate to or borne on the upper part of the ovary. |
Epiphytic. | Growing on other plants, but not parasitic. |
Equitant. | Folded around each other; straddling. |
Erase. | Irregularly margined, as if gnawed. |
Evanescent. | Early disappearing. |
Evergreen. | Bearing green leaves throughout the year. |
Ex-current. | With a tip projecting beyond the main part of the organ. |
Exfoliating. | Peeling off in layers. |
Exocarp. | The outer layer of the pericarp. |
Exogenous. | Forming new tissue outside the older. |
Exserted. | Prolonged past surrounding organs. |
Exstipulate. | Without stipules. |
Extrorse. | Facing outward. |
F
[edit]Falcate. | Scythe-shaped. |
Farinaceous. | Starchy, or containing starch. |
Fascicle. | A dense cluster. |
Fascicled. | Borne in dense clusters. |
Fastigiate. | Stems or branches which are nearly erect and close together. |
Fenestrate. | With window-like markings. |
Fertile. | Bearing spores, or bearing seed. |
Fertilization. | The mingling of the contents of a male and female cell. |
Ferruginous. | Color of iron-rust. |
Fetid. | Ill-smelling. |
Fibrillose. | With fibres or fibre-like organs. |
Filament. | The stalk of an anther; the two forming the stamen. |
Filamentous. | Composed of thread-like structures; thread-like. |
Filiform. | Thread-like. |
Fimbriate. | With fringed edges. |
Fimbrillate. | Minutely fringed. |
Fistular. | Hollow and cylindric. |
Flabellate. | Fan-shaped, or arranged like the sticks of a fan. |
Flaccid. | Lax; weak. |
Flexuous. | Alternately bent in different directions. |
Floccose. | With loose tufts of wool-like hairs. |
Foliaceous. | Similar to leaves. |
Foliolate. | With separate leaflets. |
Follicle. | A simple fruit dehiscent along one suture. |
Follicular. | Similar to a follicle. |
Foveate. Foveolate. |
More or less pitted. |
Free. | Separate from other organs; not adnate. |
Frond. | The leaves of ferns. |
Frutescent. Fruticose. |
More or less shrub-like. |
Fugacious. | Falling soon after development. |
Fugitive. | Plants not native, but occurring here and there, without direct evidence of becoming established. |
Funiculus. | The stalk of an ovule or seed. |
Fusiform. | Spindle-shaped. |
G
[edit]Galea. | A hood-like part of a perianth or corolla. |
Galeate. | With a galea. |
Gametophyte. | The sexual generation of plants. |
Gamopetalous. | With petals more or less united. |
Gemma. | A bud-like propagative organ. |
Gibbous. | Enlarged or swollen on one side. |
Glabrate. | Nearly without hairs. |
Glabrous. | Devoid of hairs. |
Gladiate. | Like a sword-blade. |
Gland. | A secreting cell, or group of cells. |
Glandular. | With glands, or gland-like. |
Glaucous. | Covered with a fine bluish or white bloom; bluish-hoary. |
Globose. | Spherical or nearly so. |
Glomerate. | In a compact cluster. |
Glomerule. | A dense capitate cyme. |
Glumaceous. | Resembling glumes. |
Glume. | The scaly bracts of the spikelets of grasses and sedges. |
Granulose. | Composed of grains. |
Gregarious. | Growing in groups or colonies. |
Gynaecandrous. | In Carex, a spike with upper flowers pistillate and lower staminate. |
Gynobase. | A prolongation or enlargement of the receptacle, supporting the ovary. |
H
[edit]Habit. | General aspect. |
Habitat. | A plant's natural place of growth. |
Hastate. | Halberd-shaped; like sagittate, but with the basal lobes diverging. |
Haustoria. | The specialized roots of parasites. |
Head. | A dense round cluster of sessile or nearly sessile flowers. |
Herbaceous. | Leaf-like in texture and color; pertaining to an herb. |
Hilum. | The scar or area of attachment of a seed or ovule. |
Hirsute. | With rather coarse stiff hairs. |
Hispid. | With bristly stiff hairs. |
Hispidulous. | Diminutive of hispid. |
Hyaline. | Thin and translucent. |
Hypocotyl. | The rudimentary stem of the embryo; also termed radicle. |
Hypogynium. | Organ supporting the ovary in some sedges. |
Hypogynous. | Borne at the base of the ovary, or below. |
Hyponym. | A generic or specific name untypified. |
I
[edit]Imbricated. | Overlapping. |
Imperfect. | Flowers with either stamens or pistils, not with both. |
Incised. | Cut into sharp lobes. |
Included. | Not projecting beyond surrounding parts. |
Incumbent. | With the back against the hypocotyl. |
Indehiscent. | Not opening. |
Indusium. | The membrane covering a sorus. |
Inequilateral. | Unequal sided. |
Inferior. | Relating to an organ which arises or is situated below another. |
Inflexed. | Abruptly bent inward. |
Inflorescence. | The flowering part of plants; its mode of arrangement. |
Integument. | A coat or protecting layer. |
Internode. | Portion of a stem or branch between two successive nodes. |
Introrse. | Facing inward. |
Involucel. | A secondary involucre. |
Invollucellate. | With a secondary involucre. |
Involucrate. | With an involucre, or like one. |
Involucre. | A whorl of bracts subtending a flower or flower-cluster. |
Involute. | Rolled inwardly. |
Irregular. | A flower in which one or more of the organs of the same series are unlike. |
L
[edit]Labiate. | Provided with a lip-like organ. |
Laciniate. | Cut into narrow lobes or segments. |
Lanceolate. | Considerably longer than broad, tapering upward from the middle or below; lance-shaped. |
Latex. | The milky sap of certain plants. |
Leaflet. | One of the divisions of a compound leaf. |
Legume. | A simple dry fruit dehiscent along both sutures. |
Lenticular. | Lens-shaped. |
Ligulate. | Provided with or resembling a ligule. |
Ligule. | A strap-shaped organ, as the rays in Compositae. |
Limb. | The expanded part of a petal, sepal, or gamopetalous corolla. |
Linear. | Elongated and narrow with sides nearly parallel. |
Lineolate. | With fine or obscure lines. |
Lobed. | Divided to about the middle. |
Lament. | A jointed legume, usually constricted between the seeds. |
Loculicidal. | Applied to capsules which split longitudinally into their cavities. |
Lodicules. | Minute hyaline scales subtending the flower in grasses. |
Lunate. | Crescent-shaped. |
Lyrate. | Pinnatifid, with the terminal lobe or segment considerably larger than the others. |
M
[edit]Macrosporange. | Sporange containing macrospores. |
Macrospore. | The larger of two kinds of spores borne by a plant, usually giving rise to a female prothallium. |
Marcescent. | Withering but remaining attached. |
Medullary. | Pertaining to the pith or medulla. |
Mericarp. | One of the carpels of the Carrot Family. |
Mesocarp. | The middle layer of a pericarp. |
Micropyle. | Orifice of the ovule, and corresponding point on the seed. |
Microsporange. | Sporange containing microspores. |
Microspore. | The smaller of two kinds of spore borne by a plant, usually giving rise to a male prothallium; pollen-grain. |
Midvein (Midrib). | The central vein or rib of a leaf or other organ. |
Monadelphous. | Stamens united by their filaments. |
Moniliform. | Like a string of beads. |
Monoecious. | Bearing stamens and pistils on the same plant, but in different flowers. |
Monstrous. | Unusual or deformed. |
Mucronate. | With a short sharp abrupt tip. |
Mucronulate. | Diminutive of mucronate. |
Muricate. | Roughened with short hard processes. |
Muticous. | Pointless, or blunt. |
N
[edit]Naked. | Lacking organs or parts which are normally present in related species or genera. |
Naturalized. | Plants not indigenous to the region, but so well established as to have become part of the flora. |
Nectary. | A sugar-secreting organ. |
Node. | The junction of two internodes of a stem or branch, often hard or swollen, at which a leaf or leaves are usually borne. |
Nodose. | Similar to nodes or joints; knotty. |
Nodulose. | Diminutive of nodose. |
Nut. | An indehiscent one-seeded fruit with a hard or bony pericarp. |
Nutlet. | Diminutive of nut. |
O
[edit]Obcordate. | Inversely heart-shaped. |
Oblanceolate. | Inverse of lanceolate. |
Oblong. | Longer than broad with the sides nearly parallel, or somewhat curving. |
Obovate. | Inversely ovate. |
Obovoid. | Inversely ovoid. |
Obsolete. | Not evident; gone, rudimentary, or vestigial. |
Obtuse. | Blunt, or rounded. |
Ochreae. | The sheathing united stipules of Polygonaceae. |
Ochreolae. | The ochreae subtending flowers in the Polygonaceae. |
Ochroleucous. | Yellowish white. |
Oösphere. | The cell of the archegone which is fertilized by spermatozoids. |
Operculate. | With an operculum. |
Operculum. | A lid. |
Orbicular. | Approximately circular in outline. |
Orthotropous. | Term applied to the straight ovule, having the hilum at one end and the micropyle at the other. |
Ovary. | The ovule-bearing part of the pistil. |
Ovate. | In outline like a longitudinal section of a hen's egg. |
Ovoid. | Shaped like a hen's egg. |
Ovule. | The macrosporange of flowering plants, becoming the seed on maturing. |
P
[edit]Palate. | The projection from the lower lip of two-lipped personate corollas. |
Palet. | A bract-like organ enclosing or subtending the flower in grasses. |
Palmate. | Diverging radiately like the fingers. |
Pandurate; Panduriform. |
Fiddle-shaped. |
Panicle. | A compound flower cluster of the racemose type, or cluster of sporanges. |
Paniculate. | Borne in panicles or resembling a panicle. |
Papilionaceous. | Term applied to the irregular flower of the Pea Family. |
Papillose. | With minute blunt projections. |
Pappus. | The bristles, awns, teeth, etc., surmounting the achene in the Chicory and Thistle Families. |
Parasitic. | Growing upon other plants and absorbing their juices. |
Parietal. | Borne along the wall of the ovary, or pertaining to it. |
Parted. | Deeply cleft. |
Pectinate. | Comb-like. |
Pedicel. | The stalk of a flower in a flower-cluster, or of a sporange. |
Peduncle. | Stalk of a flower, or a flower-cluster, or a sporocarp. |
Pedunculate. | With a peduncle. |
Peltate. | Shield-shaped; a flat organ with a stalk on its lower surface. |
Penicillate. | With a tuft of hairs or hair-like branches. |
Perfect. | Flowers with both stamens and pistils. |
Perfoliate. | Leaves so clasping the stem as to appear as if pierced by it. |
Perianth. | The modified floral leaves (sepals or petals), regarded collectively. |
Pericarp. | The wall of the fruit, or seed-vessel. |
Perigynium. | The utricle enclosing the ovary or achene in the genus Carex. |
Perigynous. | Borne on the perianth, around the ovary. |
Peripheral. | Pertaining to the periphery. |
Persistent. | Organs remaining attached to those bearing them after the growing period. |
Petal. | One of the leaves of the corolla. |
Petaloid. | Similar to petals; petal-like. |
Petiolate. | With a petiole. |
Petiole. | The stalk of the leaf. |
Phyllode. | A bladeless petiole or rachis. |
Phyllopodic. | In Carex, with lower leaves of the fertile culms normally blade-bearing. |
Pilose. | With long soft hairs. |
Pinna. | A primary division of a pinnately compound leaf. |
Pinnate. | Leaves divided into leaflets or segments along a common axis. |
Pinnatifid. | Pinnately cleft to the middle or beyond. |
Pinnule. | A division of a pinna. |
Pistil. | The central organ of a flower containing the macrosporanges (ovules). |
Pistillate. | With pistils; and usually employed in the sense of without stamens. |
Placenta. | An ovule-bearing surface. |
Plicate. | Folded into plaits, like a fan. |
Plumose. | Resembling a plume or feather. |
Plumule. | The rudimentary terminal bud of the embryo. |
Pollen. | Pollen-grain. Contents of the anther. See Microspore. |
Pollinia. | The pollen-masses of the Orchid and Milkweed Families. |
Polygamous. | Bearing both perfect and imperfect flowers. |
Polypetalous. | With separate petals. |
Pome. | The fleshy fruit of the Apple Family. |
Procumbent. | Trailing or lying on the ground. |
Prophylla. | Bractlets. |
Prothallium. | The sexual generation of Pteridophyta. |
Puberulent. | With very short hairs. |
Pubescent. | With hairs. |
Punctate. | With translucent dots or pits. |
Pungent. | With a sharp stiff tip. |
Pyriform. | Pear-shaped. |
R
[edit]Raceme. | An elongated determinate flower-cluster with each flower pedicelled. |
Racemose. | In racemes, or resembling a raceme. |
Rachilla. | The axis of the spikelet in grasses. |
Rachis. | The axis of a compound leaf, or of a spike or raceme. |
Radiant. | With the marginal flowers enlarged and ray-like. |
Radiate. | With ray-flowers; radiating. |
Radicle. | The rudimentary stem of the embryo; hypocotyl. |
Radicular. | Pertaining to the radicle or hypocotyl. |
Raphe (Rhaphe). | The ridge connecting the hilum and chalaza of an anatropous or amphitropous ovule; the ridge on the sporocarp of Marsilea. |
Ray. | One of the peduncles or branches of an umbel; the flat marginal flowers in Compositae. |
Receptacle. | The end of the flower stalk, bearing the floral organs, or, in Compositae, the flowers; also, in some ferns, an axis bearing sporanges. |
Virgate. | Wand-like. |
Recurved. | Curved backward. |
Reflexed. | Bent backward abruptly. |
Regular. | Having the members of each part alike in size and shape. |
Reniform. | Kidney-shaped. |
Repand. | With a somewhat wavy margin. |
Reticulate. | Arranged as a network. |
Retrorse. | Turned backward or downward. |
Refuse. | With a shallow notch at the end. |
Revolute. | Rolled backward. |
Rhachis. | See Rachis. |
Rhizome. | See Rootstock. |
Ringent. | The gaping mouth of a two-lipped corolla. |
Rootstock. | A subterranean stem, or part of one. |
Rostellum. | Beak of the style in Orchids. |
Rostrate. | With a beak. |
Rosulate. | Like a rosette. |
Rotate. | With a flat round corolla-limb. |
Rugose. | Wrinkled. |
Runcinate. | Sharply pinnatifid, or incised, the lobes or segments turned backward. |
S
[edit]Sac. | A pouch, especially the cavities of anthers. |
Saccate. | With a pouch or sac. |
Sagittate. | Like an arrow-head, with the lobes turned downward. |
Samara. | A simple indehiscent winged fruit. |
Saprophyte. | A plant which grows on dead organic matter. |
Scabrous. | Rough. |
Scale. | A minute, rudimentary or vestigial leaf. |
Scape. | A leafless or nearly leafless stem or peduncle, arising from a subterranean part of a plant, bearing a flower or flower-cluster. |
Scapose. | Having scapes, or resembling a scape. |
Scarious. | Thin, dry, and translucent, not green. |
Scorpioid. | Coiled up in the bud, unrolling in growth. |
Secund. | Borne along one side of an axis. |
Segment. | A division of a leaf or fruit. |
Sepal. | One of the leaves of a calyx. |
Septate. | Provided with partitions. |
Septicidal. | A capsule which splits longitudinally into and through its dissepiments. |
Serrate. | With teeth projecting forward. |
Serrulate. | Diminutive of serrate; serrate with small teeth. |
Sissile. | Without a stalk. |
Setaceous. | Bristle-like. |
Setose. | Bristly. |
Silicle. | A silique much longer than wide. |
Silique. | An elongated two-valved capsular fruit, with two parietal placentae, usually dehiscent. |
Sinuate. | With strongly wavy margins. |
Sinuous. | In form like the path of a snake. |
Sinus. | The space between the lobes of a leaf. |
Sorus (Sori). | A group or cluster of sporanges. |
Spadiceous. | Like or pertaining to a spadix. |
Spadix. | A fleshy spike of flowers. |
Spathaceous. | Resembling a spathe. |
Spathe. | A bract, usually more or less concave, subtending a spadix. |
Spatulate. | Shaped like a spatula; spoon-shaped. |
Spermatozoids. | Cells developed in the antherid, for the fertilization of the oosphere. |
Spicate. | Arranged in a spike; like a spike. |
Spike. | An elongated flower cluster or cluster of sporanges, with sessile or nearly sessile flowers or sporanges. |
Spikelet. | Diminutive of spike; especially applied to flower-clusters of grasses and sedges. |
Spinose. | With spines or similar to spines. |
Spinule. | A small sharp projection. |
Spinulose. | With small sharp processes or spines. |
Sporange. | A sac containing spores. |
Spore. | An asexual vegetative cell. |
Sporocarp. | Organ containing sporanges or sori. |
Sporophyte. | The asexual generation of plants. |
Spreading. | Diverging nearly at right angles; nearly prostrate. |
Spur. | A hollow projection from a floral organ. |
Squarrose. | With spreading or projecting parts. |
Stamen. | The organ of a flower which bears the microspores (pollen-grains). |
Staminodium. | A sterile stamen, or other organ in the position of a stamen. |
Standard. | The upper, usually broad, petal of a papilionaceous corolla. |
Stellate. | Star-like. |
Sterigmata. | The projections from twigs, bearing the leaves in some genera of Pinaceae. |
Sterile. | Without spores, or without seed. |
Stigma. | The summit or side of the pistil to which pollen-grains become attached. |
Stipe. | The stalk of an organ. |
Stipitate. | Provided with a stipe. |
Stipules. | Appendages to the base of a petiole, often adnate to it. |
Stipulate. | With stipules. |
Stolon. | A basal branch rooting at the nodes. |
Stoloniferous. | Producing or bearing stolons. |
Stoma (Stomata). |
The transpiring orifices in the epidermis of plants. |
Strict. | Straight and erect. |
Strigose. | With appressed or ascending stiff hairs. |
Strophiole. | An appendage to a seed at the hilum. |
Strophiolate. | With a Strophiole. |
Style. | The narrowed top of the ovary. |
Stylopodium. | The expanded base of a style. |
Subacute. | Somewhat acute. |
Subcordate. | Somewhat heart-shaped. |
Subcoriaceous. | Approaching leathery in texture. |
Subfalcate. | Somewhat scythe-shaped. |
Subligneous. | Somewhat woody in texture. |
Subterete. | Nearly terete. |
Subulate. | Awl-shaped. |
Subversatile. | Partly or imperfectly versatile. |
Succulent. | Soft and juicy. |
Sulcate. | Grooved longitudinally. |
Superior. | Applied to the ovary when free from the calyx; or to a calyx adnate to an ovary. |
Suture. | A line of splitting or opening. |
Symmetrical. | Applied to a flower with its parts of equal numbers. |
Syncarp. | A fleshy multiple or aggregate fruit. |
T
[edit]Tendril. | A slender coiling organ. |
Terete. | Circular in cross section. |
Ternate. | Divided into three segments, or arranged in threes. |
Tetradynamous. | With four long stamens and two shorter ones. |
Thallus. | A usually flat vegetative organ without differentiation into stem and leaves. |
Thyrsoid. | Like a thyrsus. |
Thyrsus. | A compact panicle. |
Tomentose. | Covered with tomentum. |
Tomentulose. | Diminutive of tomentose. |
Tomentum. | Dense matted wool-like hairs. |
Torsion. | Twisting of an organ. |
Tortuous. | Twisted or bent. |
Tracheae. | The canals or ducts in woody tissue. |
Tracheids. | Wood-cells. |
Triandrous. | With three stamens. |
Tricarpous. | Composed of three carpels. |
Trimorphous. | Flowers with stamens of three different lengths or kinds; in three forms. |
Triquetrous. | Three-sided, the sides channeled. |
Truncate. | Terminated by a nearly straight edge or surface. |
Tuber. | A thick short underground branch or part of a branch. |
Tubercle. | The persistent base of the style in some Cyperaceae; a small tuber. |
Tuberculate. | With rounded projections. |
Turbinate. | Top-shaped. |
U
[edit]Uliginous. | Inhabiting mud. |
Umbel. | A determinate, usually convex flower-cluster, with all the pedicels arising from the same point. |
Umbellate. | Borne in umbels; resembling an umbel. |
Umbellet. | A secondary umbel. |
Umbelloid. | Similar to an umbel. |
Uncinate. | Hooked, or in form like a hook. |
Undulate. | With wavy margins. |
Urceolate. | Urn-shaped. |
Utricle. | A bladder-like organ; a one-seeded fruit with a loose pericarp. |
V
[edit]Valvate. | Meeting by the margins in the bud, not overlapping; dehiscent by valves. |
Vascular. | Relating to ducts or vessels. |
Vein. | One of the branches of the woody portion of leaves or other organs. |
Veinlet. | A branch of a vein. |
Velum. | A fold of the inner side of the leafbase in Isoetes. |
Velutinous. | Velvety; with dense fine pubescence. |
Venation. | The arrangement of veins. |
Vernation. | The arrangement of leaves in the bud. |
Versatile. | An anther attached at or near its middle to the filament. |
Verticillate. | With three or more leaves or branches at a node; whorled. |
Vestigial. | In the nature of a vestige or remnant. |
Villous. | With long soft hairs, not matted together. |
W
[edit]Whorl. | A group of three similar organs or more, radiating from a node. Verticil. |
Whorled. | See Verticillate. |
Winged. | With a thin expansion or expansions. |