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spadicate |
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architecture |
inflorescence |
Generally spicate but with the flowers embedded in a thick, fleshy axis, the whole subtended and usually partially or wholly enveloped by a large bract (spathe). |
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spadix pl. spadices |
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STRUCTURE |
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A thick, fleshy, primary inflorescence axis bearing sessile flowers more or less sunken into its surface, the whole subtended and sometimes partially enclosed by a specialized bract, the spathe; esp. in Araceae. |
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epipetalous |
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insertion |
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Upon the petals, or partially adnate thereto and apparently arising therefrom. |
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apetalous |
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architecture |
flower, perianth |
Lacking petals. |
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revolute 2 |
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vernation |
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Each rolled abaxially inward from the lateral margins. |
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laminar 2 |
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solid shape |
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Relatively very thin with parallel opposite broad faces, the whole plane or variously curved. Structures to which this term, along with any other three-dimensional ones, is applicable are often also described as though only two-dimensional, using terms that are implicitly understood to refer only to the outline of the broad faces. |
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exfoliating |
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relief |
bark |
Shallowly and distantly fissured, falling away in thin, relatively large patches or sheets. |
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rosette |
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STRUCTURE |
|
A set of leaves that are strongly congested and disposed in radial symmetry about the main stem at or very near its base, seeming to arise at the same level and often overlapping laterally; esp. the overwintering leaves of perennial herbs. |
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legume |
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nominative |
fruit |
Dry, septicidal, one-loculed and derived from a single, superior, simple ovary; dehiscing along two sutures, one abaxial, one adaxial; in Fabaceae (Leguminosae). See also loment. |
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pollinarium pl. pollinaria |
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STRUCTURE |
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A pollinium together with, when present, its stipe and viscidium; the entire unit of pollinium dispersal. |
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obovoid |
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solid shape |
|
Inversely ovoid (egg-shaped). |
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lineate 1 |
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coloration |
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Having very narrow, straight, clear or colored lines that contrast with the ground color. |
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stephanoporate |
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architecture |
pollen grain |
Having more than three pores disposed equatorially. |
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fissured |
|
relief |
bark |
Split or cracked vertically, diagonally, and/or horizontally in a regular or irregular pattern, the fissures not encircling the stem individually. |
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barbellate |
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architecture |
|
Bearing one or more barbels. |
|
scape |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
A leafless, essentially naked, inflorescence-bearing stem (or peduncle) arising directly from a caudex or rhizome, its point of insertion slightly beneath, at, or slightly above the substrate surface. |
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trioecious |
|
reproduction |
taxon |
Having some flowers or spikelets functionally unisexual and some bisexual, some plants having only staminate or only pistillate types, other plants having only bisexual types. |
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actinodromous |
|
venation |
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Having three or more primary veins that diverge radially from a point at or above the base of the blade and run toward the margin, reaching it or not. |
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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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indusiate |
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architecture |
sorus |
Having an indusium. |
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paraphysis pl. paraphyses |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
An elongate, multicellular, sterile structure borne between sporangia within a sorus; in Polypodiophyta. |
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drupelet |
|
nominative |
fruit |
Diminutively drupe-like but derived from one of the simple, superior ovaries of an apocarpous flower, having a fleshy fruit wall and a hard seed (pyrene) within, a distinct constituent in an aggregate fruit; esp. in Rosaceae. |
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fruity |
|
odor |
|
Sweetly to pungently fragrant and reminiscent of fruit. |
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rachilla 1 var. rhachilla |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
A second- or higher-order axis of a compound leaf blade, bearing higher-order rachillae, leaflets, pinnules and/or tendrils. |
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subsidiary cell |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
One of the cytologically distinctive epidermal cells that are sometimes present in a stomate and that surround and are regularly oriented in relation to the guard cells. |
