reflectance |
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CHARACTER |
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Aspect as to proportion and pattern of incident light reflected from the surface. |
position |
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CHARACTER |
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Location or disposition with reference to some dissimilar structure(s) or larger context. The lexicons relating to position and insertion overlap to a great degree, since these two morphological concepts are often inseparable in practice. Also overlaps conceptually with arrangement, habit, orientation, and shape. |
intruded |
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placentation |
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Upon partial septa excrescent from the wall of a compound, unilocular ovary. |
coetaneous |
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maturation |
dissimilar structures |
Maturing concurrently. This adjective is frequently used to mean contemporary maturation of leaves and flowers, but without actually stipulating that those are the structures involved. Such usage is erroneous according to the construction and literal meaning of the term, which properly applies to structures, not to the taxon or plant. See also synanthous. |
solid shape |
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CHARACTER |
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Overall three-dimensional form or aspect(s) thereof. Overlaps conceptually with architecture, arrangement, habit, insertion, orientation, position, relief, and texture (as to thickness). |
…merous |
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architecture |
compound or compound-complex structure |
Having the number of equivalent component parts indicated by the prefix (e.g., petals in a corolla), or having different component sets of equivalent parts of that number in each set (e.g., calyx and corolla in a perianth); as in monomerous, oligomerous, polymerous, tetramerous, trimerous. |
apex pl. apices |
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CHARACTER |
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Configuration of the uppermost, distal, or terminal portion of a structure, its extent determined somewhat subjectively in relation to the shape of the structure as a whole. The concept of apex varies from one descriptive context to another, since the apex is not a clearly delimited, morphologically distinct entity. The terms for describing apical condition are not strictly coordinate logically — some are more inclusive than others, some describe conditions involving what can be regarded as appendages, and some refer to the apex in a developmental as well as a strictly topological sense — and precise characterization may require using more than one descriptor. The semantic antecedent of some descriptors is "apex," whereas the antecedent of others is the structure as a whole (e.g., leaf ). |
oblate |
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plane shape |
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Symmetrically elongate and broader than long perpendicular to the developmental or polar axis. |
circumscissile |
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dehiscence |
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Splitting transversely through the exterior wall about its entire circumference, the resulting upper cap-like portion falling away. |
laminar 1 |
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insertion |
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Upon or otherwise directly associated with the lamina (blade) of a foliaceous structure. |
spinulose |
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apex |
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Finely spinose. |
motile |
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habit |
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Able to translocate by intrinsic means, as by flagellar propulsion. |
campylodromous |
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venation |
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Having several primary and/or strongly developed secondary veins that diverge from a point or small area near the base of the blade and run thence ultimately toward the apex, recurving proximally, arcuate and converging distally, reaching the apex or not. |
prop-rooted |
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architecture |
plant |
Bearing and buttressed by prop roots. |
limp |
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texture |
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Lacking stiffness in in one or more dimensions, thus drooping or sagging where unsupported. |
pulvinate 1 |
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architecture |
inflorescence axis, petiole |
Having a pulvinus. |
…pinnate |
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architecture |
foliaceous structure |
Compound with the number of orders of leaflets indicated by the prefix, each order pinnate; as in bipinnate, tripinnate. |
tiller |
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STRUCTURE |
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An erect or ascending stem that branches from the base of another at or below the surface of the ground; esp. in Poaceae (Gramineae) and other monocotyledons (Liliidae). |
brachiate |
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architecture |
axis |
Having alternate, divaricate branches. |
andromonoecious |
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reproduction |
taxon |
Having all plants with both bisexual flowers and staminate ones. |
gynobasic |
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insertion |
style |
Apparently arising from the ovary base. |
rhipidium pl. rhipidia |
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nominative |
inflorescence |
A cyme with the branches alternate and disposed in two opposite ranks along the main axis, the whole fan-like. |
entire |
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margin |
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Uninterrupted; not deviating significantly from its general line, thus lacking any localized convexities or concavities. |
gynodioecious |
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reproduction |
taxon |
Having some plants with only bisexual flowers and some with only pistillate ones. |
rhizoid |
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STRUCTURE |
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Any structure that is similar to a root in appearance and function but that is not a true root ontogenetically and anatomically, especially one produced from a gametophyte thallus. |