|
interrupted 2 |
|
architecture |
inflorescence |
Having one or more gaps in an otherwise uniform distribution of flowers or branch units along the main axis. |
|
percurrent 1 |
|
architecture |
primary or secondary laminar veins |
Running through the entire length of the lamina (blade), or all the way to its margin. |
|
simple 1 |
|
architecture |
|
Externally unitary and comprising only one basic morphological unit; not compound in either sense of that term. |
|
monadal |
|
arrangement |
pollen |
Shed singly, or essentially so, only loosely and irregularly, if at all, coherent, each original tetrad having separated fully. |
|
spadix pl. spadices |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
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. |
|
epipetalous |
|
insertion |
|
Upon the petals, or partially adnate thereto and apparently arising therefrom. |
|
revolute 2 |
|
vernation |
|
Each rolled abaxially inward from the lateral margins. |
|
laminar 2 |
|
solid shape |
|
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. |
|
exfoliating |
|
relief |
bark |
Shallowly and distantly fissured, falling away in thin, relatively large patches or sheets. |
|
rosette |
|
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. |
|
legume |
|
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. |
|
pollinarium pl. pollinaria |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
A pollinium together with, when present, its stipe and viscidium; the entire unit of pollinium dispersal. |
|
lemma pl. lemmata, lemmas |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
The proximal bract of the (usually) two that immediately subtend the flower in a grass (Poaceae) floret; the other is the palea. |
|
pollinial |
|
arrangement |
pollen |
Polyadal with the grains of individual thecae (pollen sacs), or of fused thecae, compacted and forming tightly coherent masses (pollinia) that constitute the basic dispersal units, these sometimes distally attenuate to a sterile caudicle (translator arm), sometimes united by caudicles in groups of two or more, the caudicle(s) sometimes attached to a viscidium, either directly or through an intervening stipe; esp. in Asclepiadaceae, Orchidaceae. |
|
fastigiate |
|
arrangement |
branches |
Closely parallel to one another and to the axis of origin over most of their lengths. |
|
obscure |
|
manifestation |
|
Hardly evident. |
|
salt-excreting |
|
exudation |
|
Accumulating salt and discharging it directly to the exterior in a concentrated aqueous solution, the salt then crystallizing on the exterior following evaporation of the fluid medium; when salt-excreting glands are indicated in the nominative, usually they are called simply salt glands. |
|
dehiscence |
|
CHARACTER |
|
Mode of opening (splitting or forming apertures). |
|
primocane |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
A biennial or perennial stem before it has begun flowering, when the latter does not occur until at least its second season of growth; esp. in Rubus (Rosaceae). |
|
sterigma pl. sterigmata |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
A portion of a lamina that is prolonged and adherent to the supporting axis beneath the point of vascular insertion. |
|
apiculum 2 pl. apicula |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
The apex of a connective, when prolonged above the union of the anthers. |
|
fistulose |
|
solid shape |
|
Basically tubular with closed ends. |
|
chasmogamous |
|
reproduction |
flower |
Having the perianth open at anthesis, allowing deposit of pollen from other flowers (physiological receptivity aside). |
|
autotrophic |
|
nutrition |
plant |
Independent of other organisms for its nourishment, itself synthesizing all essential substances not directly available from the non-living environment. |
|
pubescent 1 (broad sense) |
|
pubescence |
|
Bearing trichomes. This is one of the most ambiguous terms in the botanical lexicon; it should not be used unless its intended meaning is explicit. |
