|
dwarfed |
|
size |
plant |
Strongly reduced; unusually or unexpectedly very small throughout. |
|
contiguous |
|
arrangement |
|
Touching one another. |
|
involucel |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
One or more closely proximate whorls of bractlets (bracteoles, prophylls) immediately subtending (below or outside) a subordinate portion of an inflorescence that is subtended as a whole by an involucre, the bractlets often leaf-like, sometimes petaloid. |
|
perfoliate |
|
architecture |
foliaceous structure |
Having a sessile lamina (blade) that uninterruptedly encircles the bearing axis, which thus passes through it at some point within the margin. See also amplexicaulous, connate-perfoliate. |
|
enation |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
A relatively small outgrowth from an otherwise regular boundary or surface of a larger structure. |
|
gibbous |
|
solid shape |
|
Bulging unilaterally near the base. |
|
monochasium pl. monochasia |
|
nominative |
inflorescence |
Determinate and falsely dichotomous with each axial segment bearing a single, sessile terminal flower; presumably derived from a dichasium by loss of the lateral flowers. See also cincinnus, cyme, cymule, dichasium, helicoid cyme, scorpioid cyme. |
|
rectangular |
|
plane shape |
|
Basically four-sided, the sides more or less straight, those of each opposing pair more or less parallel, the generalized angles between adjacent sides approximately 90°. |
|
suprafoliar |
|
insertion |
|
Upon the stems, each directly above (distal to) and very near a point of leaf insertion. |
|
viviparous |
|
reproduction |
|
Producing sexually or asexually generated offspring that begin growth and development while borne upon the parent plant. |
|
epirhizal |
|
insertion |
|
Upon or arising from the roots. |
|
apiculum 1 pl. apicula |
|
STRUCTURE |
|
A short, slender, angular tip that is not notably harder or stiffer than the main body of the bearing structure. See also mucro. |
|
rhizomatous |
|
architecture |
plant |
Having rhizomes. |
|
placentation |
|
CHARACTER |
|
Disposition of the placenta(e) within an ovary. |
|
spongy |
|
texture |
|
Soft, light, discontinuous but cohesive, and somewhat resilient. |
|
woody clump |
|
nominative |
plant |
An aggregate of woody main stems that arise from belowground organs derived from a single progenitor; the members of a clump are individually tree- or shrub-like and sometimes become physically separate over time. See also bush, frutex, shrub, subshrub, suffrutex, tree, undershrub. |
|
tetradal |
|
arrangement |
pollen |
Shed in groups of four, each an intact tetrad with original configuration unchanged; geometric arrangement of the grains may be tetrahedral, tetragonal, or linear, depending upon mode of pollen mother cell division. |
|
cyathiform |
|
solid shape |
perianth, calyx, corolla, pappus |
Having a cupulate tube and an indistinct, erect limb. See also cotyliform, urceolate (urn-shaped). |
|
chasmogamous |
|
reproduction |
flower |
Having the perianth open at anthesis, allowing deposit of pollen from other flowers (physiological receptivity aside). |
|
polygamomonoecious |
|
reproduction |
taxon |
Basically monoecious but with some or all plants bearing some bisexual flowers. |
|
autotrophic |
|
nutrition |
plant |
Independent of other organisms for its nourishment, itself synthesizing all essential substances not directly available from the non-living environment. |
|
hemispheric(al) |
|
solid shape |
|
Half-spheric(al); broadest at the base and uniformly rounded to the apex, circular in any transverse section, and half-circular in any median longitudinal section. |
|
tortuous |
|
course |
|
Strongly irregular with sharp bends and/or curves. |
|
prominence |
|
CHARACTER |
|
Elevation or depression of a discrete feature relative to the surrounding surface. |
|
stigmatic |
|
habit |
trichome |
Borne on the surface of the stigma and serving to hold pollen deposited there, variously shaped, often glandular, sometimes contractile. |
