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casing |
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STRUCTURE |
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The portion (if any) of a floral tube that is adnate to the gynoecium. See also collar, neck. |
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palea 2 pl. paleae, paleas |
= pale, palet |
STRUCTURE |
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The distal bract of the (usually) two that immediately subtend the flower in a grass (Poaceae) spikelet; the other is the lemma. |
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conic(al) |
= cone-shaped |
apex |
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Transversely round, essentially triangular in median longitudinal section, and broadest proximally. See also obconic(al). |
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pitcher-shaped |
= ascidiform |
solid shape |
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Having a more or less tubular, radially or bilaterally symmetrical body closed at the base and broadening toward a more or less open apex sometimes lidded or overarched by a prolongation of one side; like a pitcher. |
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quincunx |
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aestivation |
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Imbricate in one whorl of five members, two wholly exterior, two wholly interior, and one partially exterior and partially interior. |
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elongate |
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plane shape |
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Longer in one dimension than in any other. |
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saccate 2 |
= bag-shaped, pouch-shaped, sack-shaped |
solid shape |
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Irregularly obovoid with an exterior aspect intermediate between inflated and flaccid; like a closed pouch or bag. |
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firm |
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texture |
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Yielding under only moderately strong pressure; only slightly deformable without internal structural disruption. |
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sigmoid 2 |
= S-shaped |
solid shape |
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Elongate with more or less constant width or diameter and curved more or less regularly first in one direction and then in the opposite direction, like the letter S. |
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stem |
> cane, culm |
STRUCTURE |
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The entire axial system of a shoot, or a component, primary or higher-order (branch) axis of the shoot; differentiated anatomically and morphologically into nodes and internodes, from the former of which it branches exogenously and bears leaves, bracts, and/or inflorescences; usually growing above ground level, but sometimes structurally and functionally specialized and growing underground (e.g., rhizome, tuber) or upon the surface of the ground (e.g., stolon). Although sometimes phenotypically distinctive and often treated separately for descriptive purposes, the axial system of an inflorescence, excluding pedicels or parts of them in some cases, is properly stem in the above general sense. |
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hydathode |
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STRUCTURE |
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A multicellular, anatomically distinctive structure located within a leaf at its periphery, its cells surrounding a central canal that opens to the exterior, through which water is actively discharged under humid conditions that impede the rate of transpiration; this liquid discharge is termed guttation. |
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laevigate 2 |
= glossy, lustrous, polished, shining, shiny |
reflectance |
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Uniformly reflecting a high proportion of incident light at all angles. |
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angled |
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solid shape |
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Having sides that meet at acute or obtuse angles. |
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barbellulate |
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architecture |
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Bearing one or more barbellules (barbellulae). |
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canescent |
= hoary |
pubescence |
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Densely covered with gray, fine, relatively short, capillate trichomes. |
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one-sided 3 |
= unilateral |
insertion |
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Upon or arising from one side only of the bearing structure. |
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…colpate |
= …fossulate, …furrowed, …grooved, …sulcate, …valleculate |
architecture |
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Having the number of colpi indicated by the prefix; esp. pollen grains; as in monocolpate, polycolpate, 3-colpate. |
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cuneate 2 |
= obtriangular, wedge-shaped |
plane shape |
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Inversely triangular; like the outline of the broad lateral face of a wedge, broadest at the apex. See also obdeltate. |
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pseudoterminal |
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position |
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Only apparently terminal; originally subapical but displaced toward the apex by differential growth during development. |
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dropper |
= tuberoid |
STRUCTURE |
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An axial outgrowth that descends from a bulb and eventually forms a new bulb; esp. in Orchidaceae. |
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root 2 |
= radix |
STRUCTURE |
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A vascularized, primary or higher-order (branch) axis that is not differentiated into nodes and internodes and that branches endogenously, together with any non-axial structures borne from it; usually growing below ground level, but sometimes structurally and functionally specialized and growing wholly or partly aboveground (e.g. aerial root, knee root, pneumatophore). |
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…seriate 2 |
= …cyclic, …verticillate, …whorled |
arrangement |
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Disposed in the number of series (cycles, verticils, whorls) indicated by the prefix; as in biseriate, 3-seriate. |
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gametophyte |
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PLANT |
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The main, ultimate, gamete-bearing stage in the haploid (n chromosomes) phase of a taxon's life cycle. Two morphologically and genetically distinct and alternate stages together constitute the complete life cycle in sexually reproducing taxa, the other phase (sporophytic) being diploid (2n chromosomes). Any taxon whose life cycle is confined to one or the other phase is limited to asexual means of reproduction, since sexual reproduction and consequent genetic recombination are impossible without alternation between haploid and diploid states via meiosis and fertilization. The term gametophytic applies to any part of the haploid phase, including all unicellular to multicellular entities belonging to it, whereas gametophyte is reserved for the principal and directly gamete-producing stage of that phase. In all vascular plant taxa the sporophyte is the dominant and most conspicuous phase of the life cycle. The gametophytes of "lower" vascular plants (ferns and "fern-allies") are physically independent of the sporophytes and, though inconspicuous, merit description in their own rights. Those of gymnosperms and angiosperms are minute and physically dependent upon (contained within) sporophytic structures and are not usually included in morphological descriptions. In the flowering plants at least, the haploid phase is (presumably evolutionarily) reduced to such a degree that the existence of gametophytes per se is debatable. |
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squamella 3 pl. squamellae |
= lodicule, squamule |
STRUCTURE |
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One of two or three small, scale-like structures inserted at the base of the androecium, distal to the palea, in most grass (Poaceae) flowers; often regarded as a vestigial branch or perianth member. |
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hexa… |
= six-… |
prefix |
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Indicating presence of or constitution by six entities of the type denoted by the term's stem; as in hexandrous, hexacarpellate, hexacolporate. |
