|
dwarfed |
|
size |
plant |
Strongly reduced; unusually or unexpectedly very small throughout. |
|
contiguous |
|
arrangement |
|
Touching one another. |
|
involucel |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
One or more closely proximate whorls of bractlets (bracteoles, prophylls) immediately subtending (below or outside) a subordinate portion of an inflorescence that is subtended as a whole by an involucre, the bractlets often leaf-like, sometimes petaloid. |
|
perfoliate |
|
architecture |
foliaceous structure |
Having a sessile lamina (blade) that uninterruptedly encircles the bearing axis, which thus passes through it at some point within the margin. See also amplexicaulous, connate-perfoliate. |
|
enation |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
A relatively small outgrowth from an otherwise regular boundary or surface of a larger structure. |
|
gibbous |
|
solid shape |
|
Bulging unilaterally near the base. |
|
monochasium pl. monochasia |
|
nominative |
inflorescence |
Determinate and falsely dichotomous with each axial segment bearing a single, sessile terminal flower; presumably derived from a dichasium by loss of the lateral flowers. See also cincinnus, cyme, cymule, dichasium, helicoid cyme, scorpioid cyme. |
|
rectangular |
|
plane shape |
|
Basically four-sided, the sides more or less straight, those of each opposing pair more or less parallel, the generalized angles between adjacent sides approximately 90°. |
|
suprafoliar |
|
insertion |
|
Upon the stems, each directly above (distal to) and very near a point of leaf insertion. |
|
viviparous |
|
reproduction |
|
Producing sexually or asexually generated offspring that begin growth and development while borne upon the parent plant. |
|
gigantic |
|
size |
plant |
Strongly enlarged; unusually or unexpectedly very large throughout. |
|
suprafoliar |
|
position |
|
Upon the stems, each directly above (distal to) and very near a point of leaf insertion. |
|
corymb |
|
nominative |
inflorescence |
An indeterminate, more or less condensed raceme with the pedicels progressively shorter toward the distal end, the flowers all borne at approximately the same level, the whole generally plane or convex at the top, the flowers maturing from the edge inward (i.e., the proximal or outer flowers maturing first). |
|
epirhizal |
|
position |
|
Upon or arising from the roots. |
|
apiculum 2 pl. apicula |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
The apex of a connective, when prolonged above the union of the anthers. |
|
spongy |
|
texture |
|
Soft, light, discontinuous but cohesive, and somewhat resilient. |
|
woody clump |
|
nominative |
plant |
An aggregate of woody main stems that arise from belowground organs derived from a single progenitor; the members of a clump are individually tree- or shrub-like and sometimes become physically separate over time. See also bush, frutex, shrub, subshrub, suffrutex, tree, undershrub. |
|
tetradal |
|
arrangement |
pollen |
Shed in groups of four, each an intact tetrad with original configuration unchanged; geometric arrangement of the grains may be tetrahedral, tetragonal, or linear, depending upon mode of pollen mother cell division. |
|
cyathiform |
|
solid shape |
perianth, calyx, corolla, pappus |
Having a cupulate tube and an indistinct, erect limb. See also cotyliform, urceolate (urn-shaped). |
|
chasmogamous |
|
reproduction |
flower |
Having the perianth open at anthesis, allowing deposit of pollen from other flowers (physiological receptivity aside). |
|
polygamomonoecious |
|
reproduction |
taxon |
Basically monoecious but with some or all plants bearing some bisexual flowers. |
|
autotrophic |
|
nutrition |
plant |
Independent of other organisms for its nourishment, itself synthesizing all essential substances not directly available from the non-living environment. |
|
hemispheric(al) |
|
solid shape |
|
Half-spheric(al); broadest at the base and uniformly rounded to the apex, circular in any transverse section, and half-circular in any median longitudinal section. |
|
tortuous |
|
course |
|
Strongly irregular with sharp bends and/or curves. |
|
prominence |
|
CHARACTER |
|
Elevation or depression of a discrete feature relative to the surrounding surface. |
