dorsifixed |
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fixation |
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Attached on the abaxial side well above the base. |
margin |
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CHARACTER |
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Configuration of all or part of the periphery of a planate structure, sometimes referred to as though it were discrete and an entity in its own right for descriptive purposes. The extent of the area considered to pertain to the margin in a given case is, of necessity, subjectively determined. As a general rule, peripheral concavities that do not exceed 1/5 the distance from the generalized edge to the center or main axis of the structure are considered components of marginal configuration, deeper concavities being considered components of overall shape. The margin is sometimes considered to be only the infinitely thin boundary itself, and such a definition is probably the one most technically correct from the standpoint of geometry and general usage. However, it is inconsistent with traditional usage in descriptive botany, which treats the margin as an entity of substance both semantically and conceptually. The semantic antecedent of some descriptors is "margin," whereas the antecedent of others is the structure as a whole (e.g., leaf). |
ocrea pl. ocreae var. ochrea |
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STRUCTURE |
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A tubular sheath that encircles a stem at a node, subtending a petiole; thought to have arisen evolutionarily by lateral fusion of two stipules; in Polygonaceae. |
elastic |
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texture |
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Resiliently deformable with no loss of structural integrity. |
vallecula pl. valleculae |
= colpus, fossula, furrow, groove, sulcus |
STRUCTURE |
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A longitudinal depression that is relatively shallow and narrow; esp. in fruits of Apiaceae (Umbelliferae). |
bristle 2 |
= seta; > glochid, glochidium; < trichome |
STRUCTURE |
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A trichome that is elongate, more or less straight, terete, fine-pointed, and stiff. |
mottled |
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coloration |
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Having one or more indistinctly delineated, irregularly shaped, areas of varying size and contrasting hue and/or intensity. |
horny |
= corneous |
texture |
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Hard, dense, fine-grained or compactly fibrous, and tough; resembling the substance of animal horn. |
suffused |
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coloration |
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Having two or more hues, shades, and/or intensities intermingled, the contrasting components distinguishable only submacroscopically. |
antheridium pl. antheridia |
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STRUCTURE |
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A male gametangium; a multicellular fertile organ of a mature gametophyte within which male gametes (antherozoids, spermatozoids) are produced and from which they are discharged, in some taxa forcibly, through a pore. Technically present but highly reduced and of no descriptive significance in Magnoliophyta and part of Pinophyta. |
acyclic |
= helical, spiral |
arrangement |
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Disposed helically about and along the axis, each on a different radius than the one(s) vertically adjacent. |
columella 1 pl. columellae, columellas |
= carpophore; < stalk |
STRUCTURE |
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Any pedestal-like prolongation of a floral receptacle extending beyond the distalmost level of perianth insertion and bearing the gynoecium. |
parted |
? cleft, dissected, divided, lobate, lobed, partite, segmented |
solid shape |
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Having two or more component sectors or peripheral protrusions that are delimited by concavities in the surface or margin and that are not proximally distinct from the remainder of the whole. The meanings of this term and its approximate synonyms sometimes have been supposed to differ according to the depth of the delimiting concavities relative to the midline or midpoint of the overall structure, and/or to the shape or proportions of the protrusions or sectors; however, there has been little consistency in the applications of the various terms according to such distinctions, which are ones only of degree and are necessarily arbitrary in any case. In general usage, these terms differ only indistinctly and connotatively: cleft, lobed (or lobate), parted (or partite) and segmented tend to connote fewer protrusions or sectors; lobate usually connotes as well a generally rounded shape; dissected tends to connote more numerous sectors that are elongate and angular. See also cut (incised, lacerate, torn), laciniate (slashed). |
plicate 3 |
= plaited, pleated |
vernation |
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Having alternately adaxial and abaxial lengthwise folds, resembling a closed fan. |
simple 1 |
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architecture |
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Externally unitary and comprising only one basic morphological unit; not compound in either sense of that term. |
ceraceous 1 |
= cereous, waxen, waxy; > caesious, glaucescent, glaucous, pruinose |
coating |
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Covered with wax or a wax-like substance. |
pseudoaxillary |
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position |
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Only apparently axillary; originally extraaxillary but displaced to the axil by differential growth during development. |
indumentum pl. indumenta var. indument |
= vesture |
STRUCTURE / SUBSTANCE |
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The trichomes and/or exuded substance that overlie a surface proper, regarded collectively. See also coating, pubescence. |
disc 1 var. disk |
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STRUCTURE |
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Any distinct, annular to discoid structure produced from or borne upon a floral receptacle between or basal to any of the sets of floral organs; usually fleshy, often nectariferous. |
tri… 1 |
= three-… |
prefix |
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Indicating presence of or constitution by three entities of the type denoted by the term's stem; as in tricarpellate, trifurcate, trilocular. |
obcordate |
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plane shape |
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Inversely cordate (heart-shaped). |
umbonate |
= bossed |
solid shape |
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Having an umbo. |
blade |
= lamina |
STRUCTURE |
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The expanded, more or less planate, distal portion, when present, of a leaf, leaflet or bract. |
obcordiform |
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solid shape |
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Inversely cordiform (heart-shaped). |
umbraculiform |
= umbrella-shaped |
solid shape |
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Having a slender, elongate proximal axis and a very broad, meniscoid distal portion, the latter oriented with its convex face distal; like an umbrella. |