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knee root |
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STRUCTURE |
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A specialized secondary root of a wetland tree, a portion of which projects above mean water level and appears to bend as a leg does at the knee, its distalmost portion being anchored in the substrate beneath the water. The knee of the root is commonly regarded as a conduit for gas exchange between root interior and atmosphere, a function whose need is posited on the basis of the highly anaerobic and saturated conditions prevailing in wetland substrates. |
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spathe |
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STRUCTURE |
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A usually relatively large, sometimes showy, foliose bract subtending and sometimes partially enclosing an inflorescence, esp. a spadicate one; in Liliidae (monocotyledons). |
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epiphyllous |
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position |
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Upon the leaves, or partially adnate thereto and apparently arising therefrom. |
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naked 1 |
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architecture |
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Lacking a covering that might have been expected. |
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rhipidiate |
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architecture |
inflorescence |
Comprising one or more rhipidia. |
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catadromous |
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venation |
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Having the first lateral vein in each pinna or primary segment of the frond arise from its midvein on the side toward the base of the frond, the pinnule or secondary segment that it leads to often disproportionately larger than the next distal ones. |
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winter annual |
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nominative |
plant |
Annual, germinating in autumn, overwintering in a vegetative state (usually as a rosette aboveground), reproducing sexually from early spring through summer, and dying promptly thereafter. See also summer annual. |
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non-porous |
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porosity |
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Lacking vessels, the tracheary elements limited to tracheids and, sometimes, fiber-tracheids. |
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chambered |
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architecture |
pith |
Interrupted by cavities that are more or less regularly spaced along the axis and that result from disintegration of tissue prior to axis maturity. |
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squarrose |
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orientation |
lateral structure |
Having the proximal portion appressed and the distal portion deflexed, the latter more or less perpendicular to the surface of the bearing structure. |
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obterete |
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solid shape |
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Inversely terete. |
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samara |
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nominative |
fruit |
Dry, indehiscent and having one or more integral alate portions that aid in aerial dispersal. |
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toothlet |
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STRUCTURE |
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A diminutive tooth (dens). See also sawtooth, sawtoothlet, scallop (crena), scalloplet (crenule). |
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sap |
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SUBSTANCE |
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Generally, the fluid content of a plant body; more precisely, the sugary fluid transported by the phloem. |
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deliquescent 2 |
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texture |
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Delicately fleshy and liquifying at maturity or with pressure; e.g., petals of Tradescantia (Commelinaceae). |
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prolate |
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plane shape |
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Symmetrically elongate parallel to the developmental or polar axis. |
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fixed |
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fixation |
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Attached to the bearing structure in a manner allowing no significant rotation or declination in relation to it. |
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bark |
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STRUCTURE |
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The outermost portion of any shoot or root axis having secondary growth, consisting of all those tissues outside the vascular cambium; sometimes exhibiting zonation into inner, living bark and outer, dead bark; usually described only as to external appearance. |
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opaque |
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coloration |
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Not transmitting light. |
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scarious |
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texture |
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Very thin, dry, and not green. |
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stilt-rooted |
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architecture |
plant |
Bearing and partly supported by stilt roots. |
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hypogynous |
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insertion |
perianth, calyx, corolla, androecium |
Entirely free from the gynoecium or any floral cup, arising from a level proximal or lateral to the base of the gynoecium. See also epigynous, perigynous. |
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strobiloid |
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architecture |
flower |
Characterized by a general lack of adnation among the different sets of basic floral structures, any significant degree of fusion limited to connation within sets, thus with ovary(ies) superior and lacking a floral tube. |
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column 2 |
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STRUCTURE |
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A fused androecium (connate stamens) closely surrounding but free from the gynoecium; esp. in Malvaceae. |
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inflated |
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solid shape |
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Relatively thin-walled with an essentially empty interior largely enclosed by the walls, which are convex overall and appear taut, as though from internal pressure. See also swollen (turgid, tumid), which is not clearly distinct in its application. |
