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adventitious root |
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STRUCTURE |
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A root that arises laterally from some part of a shoot, often from the lower portion of a main stem. |
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cap cell |
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STRUCTURE |
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The single cell, or one of the several cells, forming the uppermost (distal) portion of an antheridial wall. |
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…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. |
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caducous |
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duration |
structure |
Deciduous upon or immediately after emergence, with little or no evident senescence beforehand. |
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peripterous |
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solid shape |
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Alate with a single transversely encircling wing. |
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polyplicate |
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architecture |
pollen grain |
Inaperturate with meridional folds, thus appearing longitudinally wrinkled. |
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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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valvate 4 |
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dehiscence |
fruit |
With longitudinal segments of the wall (valves) separating partly or wholly from one another, spreading outward from the base or apex, and sometimes falling away. |
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free-central |
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placentation |
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Upon the free axial column of a compound, unilocular ovary. |
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gum |
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SUBSTANCE |
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A highly viscous and sticky exudate that becomes more or less elastic and/or deformably solid upon drying. Overlaps conceptually with latex. |
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pubescence |
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CHARACTER |
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Collective aspect of trichomes borne on the surface. Many of the terms traditionally used for describing pubescence have been defined and used in so many differing and often contradictory ways that they have become hopelessly ambiguous. This is attributable mainly to overdefinition within this portion of the traditional lexicon — that is, to highly arbitrary and widely variant restriction of a term's scope to some one detailed combination of trichome character states (shape, size, orientation, etc.). By derivation these are essentially general terms, really suited only for denoting overall aspect. The diversity actually encountered in nature defies comprehensive and unambiguous resolution into any limited suite of precisely specified, mutually exclusive, complex character states that can be associated with these terms, which are best used only in their general senses. Sometimes, such description will be sufficient in itself; more often, additionally or alternatively, the various attributes of the individual trichomes should be described. This is the only strategy that allows for full description of any possible condition, including the presence of more than one type of trichome. The various terms used for describing pubescence have never been semantically consistent; in some cases they refer to the trichomes themselves, while in others they apply to the bearing surface or structure; e.g., sericeous (the trichomes themselves are collectively silky) versus barbate (the structure is bearded). See also coating, indumentum (vesture). |
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weeping |
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architecture |
plant |
Having elongate, flexible, pendent branches. |
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resinous 1 |
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coating |
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Of liquid or hardened resin. |
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prop root |
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STRUCTURE |
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A relatively stout adventitious root arising from the lower portion of a main stem and extending outward and downward toward the substrate, within which it ultimately becomes anchored, thus buttressing the aboveground portion of the plant. |
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craspedodromous, simple- |
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venation |
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Having a midvein that branches to either side along the length of the lamina, the secondary veins and their branches all running toward and terminating at the margin. |
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herbaceous 2 |
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texture |
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Composed entirely of relatively soft, non-woody (unlignified) tissues derived from primary growth. |
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raphides sing. raphis |
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STRUCTURE |
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Needle-like crystals of calcium oxalate contained within the cells of some plants; esp. in Araceae. |
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cymose |
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architecture |
inflorescence |
Comprising one or more simple or compound cymes. See also cincinnate, cymulose, dichasiate, helicoid-cymose, monochasiate, rhipidiate, scorpioid-cymose. |
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ring-porous |
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porosity |
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Heterogeneously porous, with macroscopically distinct concentric seasonal growth increments (rings), each with numerous large vessels toward the inside and fewer and smaller ones toward the outside. |
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cuboid |
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solid shape |
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Generally but not strictly cubic; more or less equilaterally six-sided, each side basically square. |
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dimidiate |
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solid shape |
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Halved, figuratively; bilaterally asymmetric, nearly or wholly lacking one side as implicitly compared with some corresponding bilaterally symmetric structure, real or imagined. |
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intravaginal |
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insertion |
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Within the leaf sheath. |
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inflorescence 1 |
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architecture |
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Mode or progressive pattern of bearing flowers; most appropriately described using adjectival terms. |
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inflorescence 2 |
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STRUCTURE |
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The basic architectural unit of the flower-producing portion of a plant; comprising one or more flowers, their associated supporting axes (peduncles, main axes, branches and pedicels), if any, and the appendages thereto (bracts, bractlets or bracteoles or prophylls, involucres, involucels, and glumes), if any; delimited by the insertion or gradation of a single peduncle, peduncle cluster, pedicel, pedicel cluster, or sessile flower, as the case may be, directly upon or into some proximal vegetative structure not of one of these types; depending upon the type(s) of flowers included, may be bisexual (all flowers bisexual), staminate (all flowers staminate), pistillate (all flowers pistillate), sterile (all flowers sterile), or mixed (two or more types of flowers present); most appropriately described using nominative terms. |
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dyadal |
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arrangement |
pollen |
Cohering and shed in pairs, each tetrad having separated into halves. |
