knee root |
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STRUCTURE |
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A specialized secondary root of a wetland tree, a portion of which projects above mean water level and appears to bend as a leg does at the knee, its distalmost portion being anchored in the substrate beneath the water. The knee of the root is commonly regarded as a conduit for gas exchange between root interior and atmosphere, a function whose need is posited on the basis of the highly anaerobic and saturated conditions prevailing in wetland substrates. |
spathe |
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STRUCTURE |
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A usually relatively large, sometimes showy, foliose bract subtending and sometimes partially enclosing an inflorescence, esp. a spadicate one; in Liliidae (monocotyledons). |
epiphyllous |
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position |
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Upon the leaves, or partially adnate thereto and apparently arising therefrom. |
naked 1 |
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architecture |
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Lacking a covering that might have been expected. |
rhipidiate |
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architecture |
inflorescence |
Comprising one or more rhipidia. |
winter annual |
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nominative |
plant |
Annual, germinating in autumn, overwintering in a vegetative state (usually as a rosette aboveground), reproducing sexually from early spring through summer, and dying promptly thereafter. See also summer annual. |
non-porous |
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porosity |
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Lacking vessels, the tracheary elements limited to tracheids and, sometimes, fiber-tracheids. |
non-septate |
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architecture |
trichome |
Lacking transverse inter- or intracellular septa or partitions. |
cuspidate |
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apex |
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Tapering gradually to a rigid tip composed of both vascular and laminar tissues. |
lenticel |
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STRUCTURE |
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A specialized, anatomically distinct structure within the periderm of a stem, consisting of comparatively spongy, sometimes suberized tissue distinct from others of the periderm; extending radially through the periderm and visible as a circular to elongate discontinuity in the color, texture, and/or relief of the outer surface of the stem; serving as a conduit for gas exchange between the stem interior and the atmosphere. |
polyadal |
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arrangement |
pollen |
Shed in groups of more than four, each group comprising grains from two or more original tetrads, the latter intact or not. |
bud |
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STRUCTURE |
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A rudimentary, unexpanded stem, stem branch, inflorescence, inflorescence branch, or flower, or a combination thereof, in a resting state; enveloped or not by subtending protective scales. |
sap |
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SUBSTANCE |
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Generally, the fluid content of a plant body; more precisely, the sugary fluid transported by the phloem. |
deliquescent 2 |
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texture |
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Delicately fleshy and liquifying at maturity or with pressure; e.g., petals of Tradescantia (Commelinaceae). |
anatropous |
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orientation |
ovule |
Having the funiculus distally recurved and the (straight) ovule lying beside and parallel to the proximal portion of the funiculus, to which it may be adnate or adherent, the micropyle facing the ovary wall (placenta). |
prolate |
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plane shape |
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Symmetrically elongate parallel to the developmental or polar axis. |
fixed |
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fixation |
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Attached to the bearing structure in a manner allowing no significant rotation or declination in relation to it. |
calyculus 2 pl. calyculi |
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STRUCTURE |
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Collectively the bractlets (bracteoles) sometimes subtending (beneath or outside) the involucre in a capitulum (head); in Asteraceae (Compositae). |
opaque |
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coloration |
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Not transmitting light. |
scarious |
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texture |
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Very thin, dry, and not green. |
anther |
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STRUCTURE |
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The fertile, loculate, pollen-bearing portion of a stamen, containing one, two, or four thecae (pollen sacs), when that portion is differentiated from and borne at the summit of a narrower supporting stalk (filament), or when such differentiation is deemed to have occurred in the evolutionary past with subsequent reduction of the filament (the anther then sessile and constituting the entirety of the stamen). |
stilt-rooted |
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architecture |
plant |
Bearing and partly supported by stilt roots. |
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. |
aquatic |
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habit |
plant |
Growing in water. |
centrifugal |
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development |
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Proceeding away from the center, thus more advanced centrally than peripherally within a given frame of reference. |