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pachycaulous |
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architecture |
plant |
Having thick, more or less succulent stems. |
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herb |
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nominative |
plant |
Annual, biennial, or perennial with no woody (lignified) tissue in any part of the shoot; when persisting over more than one growing season, the parts of the shoot dying back seasonally. |
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trilete |
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architecture |
spore |
Having a triradiate tetrad scar. |
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complex |
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architecture |
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Comprising two or more basic structural entities, at least two of which are dissimilar. |
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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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homosporous |
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reproduction |
taxon |
Producing only one type of spore, each spore giving rise to a gametophyte that bears gametangia of both sexual types. |
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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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interrupted 1 |
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architecture |
foliaceous structure |
Compound with the leaflets alternately large and small. |
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contortuplicate 2 |
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vernation |
|
Folded and twisted. |
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peripterous |
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solid shape |
|
Alate with a single transversely encircling wing. |
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inflated |
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solid shape |
|
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. |
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polyplicate |
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architecture |
pollen grain |
Inaperturate with meridional folds, thus appearing longitudinally wrinkled. |
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acetabuliform |
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solid shape |
|
Transversely circular, broader than long, widest near or at the middle, relatively thin-walled, the hollow interior open distally; like a shallow bowl with strongly incurved sides. |
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lamella pl. lamellae |
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STRUCTURE |
|
A thin layer of tissue that forms a plate within tissue of lesser density or between areas of empty space. |
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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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pubescence |
|
CHARACTER |
|
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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ligule 2 |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
An adaxial, distal enation from a leaf sheath, especially in most grasses (Poaceae) and sedges (Cyperaceae); usually unitary and membranous, sometimes instead consisting of a row of ciliate processes. See also hastula. |
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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 |
|
Of liquid or hardened resin. |
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prop root |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
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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adventitious root |
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STRUCTURE |
|
A root that arises laterally from some part of a shoot, often from the lower portion of a main stem. |
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antisepalous |
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insertion |
equivalent floral structures |
Each inserted directly above or below a sepal. In place of this term, the phrase "opposite the sepals" is often used, but that contradicts the sense of opposite as otherwise employed (arrangement of lateral structures along an axis) and should be avoided. |
|
raphides sing. raphis |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
Needle-like crystals of calcium oxalate contained within the cells of some plants; esp. in Araceae. |
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mamma pl. mammae |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
A rounded-conoidal protrusion, resembling the breast of a mammal. |
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loculicidal |
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dehiscence |
fruit |
Splitting longitudinally through the outer wall(s) and directly into the locule(s), between the sutures, if any. |
