Glosario de términos botánicos

Este glosario de términos botánicos contiene definiciones de términos y conceptos relevantes para la botánica y las plantas en general. Incluye términos de morfología vegetal , así como los glosarios más específicos de morfología vegetal y morfología foliar . Para otros términos relacionados, consulte el glosario de fitopatología , el glosario de términos de líquenes y la lista de palabras latinas y griegas de uso común en nombres sistemáticos .

A

ab-: Prefijo que significa "posición alejada de". ^{[ 1 ]}
abaxial: Superficie de un órgano que mira en dirección opuesta al eje del órgano, por ejemplo, la superficie inferior de un órgano lateral como una hoja o un pétalo. ^{[ 2 ]} Contrasta con adaxial .
abortar: Abandonar el desarrollo de una estructura u órgano. ^{[ 3 ]}
abscisión: Desprendimiento natural de un órgano maduro o envejecido, como una fruta madura o una hoja vieja. ^{[ 4 ]}
zona de abscisión: Capa especializada de tejido que permite que un órgano se desprenda por abscisión cuando está maduro o senescente. Este tejido se forma comúnmente, por ejemplo, en la base de un pecíolo o pedicelo .
acaule: Que no tiene tallo aparente , o al menos ninguno visible sobre la superficie del suelo. ^{[ 2 ]} Ejemplos incluyen algunas especies de Oxalis , ^{[ 5 ]} Nolina , ^{[ 6 ]} y Yucca . ^{[ 7 ]} Antónimo : caulescent (que posee tallo).
creciente: Aumenta de tamaño con la edad, como un cáliz que continúa creciendo después de que la corola se ha caído, ^{[ 2 ]} por ejemplo en Physalis peruviana .
acumulado: Que yace contra otra parte de la planta; cuando se aplica a un cotiledón , significa que un borde del cotiledón se encuentra a lo largo de la radícula plegada en la semilla. ^{[ 8 ]}
-áceas: Sufijo añadido a la raíz de un nombre genérico para formar el nombre de una familia taxonómica ; ^{[ 9 ]} por ejemplo, Rosaceae es la familia de las rosas, cuyo género tipo es Rosa . ^{[ 10 ]}
aquenio: Fruto seco, indehiscente y de una sola semilla ^[¹¹^] en el que el verdadero fruto no es la llamada "baya", sino los aquenios, que son las llamadas "semillas" en la infrutescencia , por ejemplo en el género Fragaria .
acicular: Delgado o en forma de aguja. ^{[ 11 ]} Véase también Forma de la hoja .
acrópeto: Traslado desde las raíces hasta las hojas, por ejemplo, de las señales moleculares en las plantas.
acrofilo: Hojas regulares de una planta madura, producidas por encima de la base, a diferencia de las batifolas .
acrosticoide: (que describe un tipo de soro ) Que cubre toda la superficie abaxial de una fronda , generalmente de forma densa, como en Elaphoglossum y Acrostichum .
actino-: Prefijo que indica un patrón radial , forma o morfología.
actinódromo: (de la nervadura de la hoja ) Nervadura palmeada o dispuesta radialmente con tres o más nervaduras primarias que surgen en o cerca de la base de la hoja y alcanzan el margen en la mayoría de las especies, pero no en todas.
actinomorfo: Regular o radialmente simétrico;^{[ 12 ]} puede dividirse en dos mitades similares en al menos dos planos. Se aplica, por ejemplo, a estelas y flores en las que los segmentos del perianto dentro de cada verticilo son similares en tamaño y forma. Compárese con regular . Contrasta con asimétrico , irregular y zigomorfo .
aculeado: Armado con espinas , ^{[ 13 ]} por ejemplo el tallo de una rosa.
perspicacia: Punta larga y afilada, especialmente el ápice de una hoja acuminada.
puntiagudo: Estrechándose gradualmente hasta un punto, con lados cóncavos que se aproximan al punto. ^{[ 13 ]} Contrasta con agudo y mucronado . Ver también Forma de la hoja .
agudo: 1. Afiladamente puntiaguda, pero no alargada, con lados rectos que se aproximan a la punta. ^[¹³^] Contrasta con acuminada . Véase también Forma de la hoja .; 2. Convergente en un ángulo menor de 90°. Contrasta con obtuso .
anuncio-: Prefijo que significa "cerca o hacia"; también significa "añadido a". ^{[ 13 ]}
adaxial: Superficie de un órgano que mira hacia el eje del órgano, ^{[ 13 ]} por ejemplo, la superficie superior de un órgano lateral como una hoja o un pétalo. Contrasta con abaxial .
Adelfia: Un haz o estructura de estambres que forman una unidad en una flor adelfa ; por ejemplo, el tubo de estambres alrededor del pistilo del hibisco .
adelfo: Tener órganos, particularmente filamentos como estambres , conectados en uno o más adelfiae , ya sea en forma de racimos o tubos, como se ve comúnmente en familias como Malvaceae . El uso del término no es consistente; algunos autores incluyen filamentos muy juntos, mientras que otros incluyen solo adelfiae en los que los filamentos están mínimamente conectados en sus bases. Véase, por ejemplo, Sims: "...los filamentos están tan apretados que tienen la apariencia de ser monadelfos...". ^{[ 14 ]} Compárese con términos derivados como monadelfo , que tiene estambres que crecen en un solo racimo o tubo, por ejemplo en Hibiscus , y diadelfo , que crece en dos racimos.
adherente: Ligeramente unido a un órgano de otro tipo, ^{[ 13 ]} usualmente a una parte de otro verticilo, p. ej. un sépalo conectado a un pétalo . Contrasta con adnato .
adnato: Crecen a partir de un órgano de otro tipo o están estrechamente fusionados a él, ^{[ 13 ]} especialmente a lo largo de un margen , por ejemplo, un estambre fusionado a un pétalo. Las anteras adnatas tienen sus mitades unidas al filamento a lo largo de casi toda su longitud. Contrasta con las connatas .
presionado: Ver aplicado
adventicio: Producidas en una posición impredecible o inusual, ^{[ 13 ]} por ejemplo, una yema adventicia producida a partir de un tallo en lugar de la axila más típica de una hoja . Las raíces adventicias pueden desarrollarse a partir de nudos de tallos postrados de algunas especies de plantas, o del hipocótilo en lugar de la radícula de una monocotiledónea en germinación .
aventurero: Introducido accidentalmente ^{[ 13 ]} (generalmente refiriéndose a una mala hierba ).
aéreo: Del aire; que crece o se eleva sobre la superficie del suelo o del agua. ^{[ 15 ]}
estivación: Disposición de los sépalos y pétalos o sus lóbulos en un botón floral sin abrir . Contrasta con la vernación .
afín (afín): Con afinidad a otros, similar a; a menudo se usa para un taxón provisionalmente reconocido pero sin nombre, considerado cercano a ese nombre, tal vez un híbrido o una variante extrema.
fruto agregado: Grupo de frutos formado a partir de los carpelos libres de una sola flor, por ejemplo, una mora . Comparar con frutos múltiples .
agocórico: Plantas que se propagan mediante transporte accidental.
maleza agrícola: Ver hierba .
agriófito: Especies vegetales que han invadido la vegetación nativa y podrían sobrevivir allí sin intervención humana. Se establecen en hábitats naturales, permanecen como parte de la vegetación natural incluso después de que cesa la influencia humana, y son independientes de los humanos en su existencia continua. ^{[ 16 ]}
agrofítico: Serie de venas en forma de peine que se ramifican desde un solo lado de una vena primaria o secundaria.
teoría de las plantas medicinales: El estudio científico de las gramíneas, en el sentido más estricto, solo incluye las especies pertenecientes a la familia Poaceae . En usos más amplios, a veces también se incluyen especies similares a las gramíneas o gramíneas de las familias Cyperaceae , Juncaceae y Typhaceae .
alado: Tener un ala o alas.
albumen: Nombre antiguo del endospermo de las plantas con flores. Excepto por ser un tejido de almacenamiento de nutrientes, no se parece a la albúmina ( clara de huevo ) de los embriones animales.
albuminoso: (de semillas ) Que contienen endospermo .
-ales: Sufijo que se añade a la raíz de un nombre genérico o descriptivo para formar el nombre de un orden taxonómico .
extranjero: Cualquier planta introducida en un área fuera de su área de distribución natural. A menudo se usa indistintamente o en combinación con extranjera , exótica , no nativa y no indígena .
alcaloide: Cualquiera de una clase de compuestos orgánicos, de definición imprecisa, que se encuentran en los tejidos de muchas especies de plantas. Las moléculas de alcaloides poseen uno o más átomos de nitrógeno con reactividad alcalina en sus estructuras de carbono. Muchos alcaloides tienen importancia comercial como fármacos o venenos, por ejemplo, la cafeína , la morfina , la quinina y la estricnina , cada una de las cuales se encuentra de forma natural en ciertas plantas.
alelopatía: La secreción por parte de una planta de sustancias bioquímicas que influyen en el crecimiento y la reproducción de las plantas cercanas.
alopátrico: Tener rangos de distribución geográficamente separados y no superpuestos. ^{[ 17 ]} Contrastar simpátrico .
alternar: 1. (adj.) (de hojas o flores ) Que nacen individualmente a diferentes niveles a lo largo de un tallo , incluyendo partes en espiral. Contrasta con opuesto .; 2. (prep.) Que ocurre entre otra cosa, por ejemplo, estambres que se alternan con pétalos .
alternipétalo: Una configuración en la que partes de la flor, por ejemplo los estambres , se alternan en posición con los pétalos . ^{[ 18 ]}
amento: Sinónimo de amento .
anfítropo: (de un óvulo ) Doblado de manera que ambos extremos queden cerca uno del otro. Contrasta con anátropo , campilotropo y ortótropo .
amplexicaul: Con la base dilatada y abrazando el tallo, generalmente de las hojas.
estrella de amilo: un cuerpo vegetativo propagativo lleno de almidón (amilo) y ubicado alrededor de los nudos inferiores de ciertas caráceas .
anastomosar: Ramificarse y luego volver a unirse, como en la nervadura de las hojas .
anastomosis: Una conexión o fusión de dos o más venas que normalmente divergen o se ramifican, formando así una red.
anátropo: (de un óvulo ) Invertido de manera que el micrópilo mira hacia la placenta (esta es la orientación más común del óvulo en las plantas con flores). Contrasta con anfítropo , campilotropo y ortótropo .
anterior: Plano, con dos bordes (en contraposición a redondo). ^{[ 19 ]}
androdioico: Tener flores bisexuales y flores masculinas en individuos separados. Contrastar con andromonoico , poligamodioico , poligamomonoico y polígamo .
androceo: Nombre colectivo para las partes reproductivas masculinas de una flor ; los estambres de una flor considerados en conjunto. Contrasta con gineceo . Abreviado A ; por ejemplo, A 3+3 indica seis estambres en dos verticilos .
andróginóforo: Un tallo que sostiene tanto el androceo como el gineceo de una flor por encima del nivel de inserción del perianto .
andrógino: Tener flores masculinas y femeninas en la misma inflorescencia .
andróforo: El tallo o columna que sostiene los estambres en ciertas flores.
andromonoico: Tener flores bisexuales y flores masculinas en la misma planta. Contrastar con androdioico , ginomonoico , poligamodioico , poligamomonoico y polígamo .
anemófilo: Adaptado a la polinización por el viento .
anemofilia: Adaptación a la polinización por el viento .
angiosperma: Una planta con flores ; una planta con semillas en desarrollo encerradas en un ovario .
anisomería: La condición de tener un verticilo floral con un número de partes diferente (generalmente menor) al de los demás verticilos florales.
anisotómico: Ramificación, con ramas de diámetros desiguales, como un tronco y su rama. Contrasta con isotómico .
anual: Una planta que completa su ciclo de vida (es decir, germina, se reproduce y muere) en un solo año o temporada de crecimiento.
anillo: 1. Estructura en forma de anillo. Las cerdas del vilano a veces se unen a un anillo llamado anillo o disco en la parte superior del pico del aquenio . En algunos granos de polen , la exina alrededor de las aberturas es más gruesa o más delgada. En los poros, este borde se denomina anillo. Ciertas flores tienen constricciones en forma de anillo en la boca de la flor, por ejemplo en Huernia y Aristolochia .; 2. Un anillo de células especializadas en el esporangio .
anterior: Situado delante, hacia el ápice . Comparar con distal .
antemoide: En las Compuestas , un estilo con un mechón de pelos ondulados en forma de cepillo en la punta de cada rama del estilo.
antera: La parte del estambre que contiene el polen .
anteridia: En las briofitas, un órgano gametofítico especializado que produce los gametos masculinos .
anteridióforo: En las hepáticas del orden Marchantiales, un gametóforo masculino , una estructura especializada con tallo que sostiene los anteridios .
anterodo: Una antera estéril de un estaminodio .
antesis: 1. (de una flor) El período durante el cual se presenta el polen y/o el estigma es receptivo.; 2. (De una planta con flores) El período durante el cual las flores están presentes en antesis. No está definido en algunos casos, como cuando se libera el polen en el botón floral.
antocarpo: Un tipo de fruto en el que alguna parte de la flor permanece adherida al pericarpio , por ejemplo, en las Nyctaginaceae .
antóforo: El entrenudo es una estructura similar a un tallo, ubicada entre el cáliz y las demás partes de la flor.
anticlinal: Apuntando hacia arriba, alejándose de una superficie o perpendicular a ella. Contrasta con periclinal .
antrorse: Dirigido hacia adelante o hacia arriba, por ejemplo, de los pelos de un tallo. Contrasta con retrorso .
apétalo: Faltan pétalos .
ápex: La punta de una estructura, por ejemplo, una hoja , un brote , un tallo o el tronco de un árbol.
afananto: (de flores) Discreto o poco llamativo, en contraposición a vistoso o vistoso.
aflebia: Extremos de hojas imperfectos o irregulares que se encuentran comúnmente en helechos y fósiles de helechos del período Carbonífero .
deshojado: Sin hojas; que no tiene hojas. ^{[ 20 ]}
apical: Forma adjetival de ápice .
apiculado: especialmente de las hojas, terminando en una punta triangular corta. Véase también Forma de la hoja .
apifilia: Una forma de polinización mediante la cual el polen es distribuido por las abejas melíferas .
apo-: Un prefijo que significa "lejos de, separado, sin".
apocárpico: (de un gineceo ) Que consta de uno o más carpelos que están libres entre sí (o casi), por ejemplo, en miembros de las Ranunculaceae y Dilleniaceae .
apomixis: Un tipo de reproducción asexual mediante la cual se producen semillas o esporas viables de forma asexual, sin fertilización , de manera que el material genético que contienen es un clon del material genético de la planta progenitora. Una planta producida de esta manera se denomina apomíctica .
apomorfía: En cladística , una "forma diferente" de la forma de un antepasado (es decir, una innovación ) que se utiliza para determinar la pertenencia a un clado .
apopétalo: Que tiene pétalos separados , no fusionados ( simpétalos ).
apofilo: Perianto u otros segmentos libres, no unidos. Compárese con sínfilo , gamofilo y polifilo .
apófisis: 1. La parte externa de una escama cónica .; 2. Protuberancia de un órgano o ensanchamiento de un tallo .
apéndice: Una parte secundaria unida a una estructura principal; un crecimiento externo que rara vez tiene alguna función obvia, de ahí el término apendicular .
apendicular: Que tiene la naturaleza de o posee apéndices .
aplicado: Presionadas firmemente pero no fusionadas, por ejemplo, las hojas contra un tallo.
planta acuática: Planta cuyo hábitat natural es el agua, que vive en o sobre el agua durante toda o una parte sustancial de su ciclo de vida; generalmente restringida a aguas dulces o continentales.
aracnoides: Telaraña, debido a que está cubierta de finos pelos blancos.
arborescente: De crecimiento o aspecto general similar al de un árbol .
arboreto: Una colección de árboles ordenada taxonómicamente .
arqueófita: Una planta no autóctona que, sin embargo, ha estado presente en un área geográfica determinada durante algún tiempo. Contrasta con neófita .
arquegonio: Estructura u órgano haploide multicelular de la fase gametofítica de ciertas plantas, que produce y contiene el óvulo o gameto femenino. El órgano masculino correspondiente se llama anteridio .
arquegonióforo: En las hepáticas del orden Marchantiales, un gametóforo femenino : una estructura especializada y pedunculada que sostiene los arquegonios y los esporofitos .
arctotoide: En las Compuestas , un estilo con un anillo de pelos ondulantes que nace en el tallo del estilo proximal a las ramas del estilo.
areolato: Que tiene o está compuesto de areolas , como un liquen crustáceo areolado .
areola: 1. Un espacio entre los hilos de una red, por ejemplo, la parte de la superficie de una hoja definida por cada uno de los elementos de una red de venas ; como en los cactus, el área entre las venitas de una hoja.; 2. Estructura en el nudo del tallo de un cactus , morfológicamente una rama especializada; la región de un cactus sobre la cual se encuentran las espinas , las gloquidias y las flores.
arilo: Apéndice membranoso o carnoso formado por la expansión del funículo que cubre parcial o totalmente una semilla , por ejemplo, la capa exterior carnosa del fruto del lichi , o la que se encuentra en los miembros de la familia Sapindaceae .
aristá: Con una arista o punta rígida, parecida a una cerda . Véase también Forma de la hoja .
artículo: Segmento de un tallo articulado o de un fruto con constricciones entre las semillas; parte de un órgano que se separa fácilmente del resto del órgano en una articulación.
articular: Articulado; que se separa libremente, dejando una cicatriz limpia; por ejemplo, las frondas de ciertos helechos donde se unen al rizoma .
ascendente: 1. (de un tallo ) Que se extiende horizontalmente y luego se dirige hacia arriba; un tallo ascendente es más o menos postrado cerca de su base y luego erguido .; 2. (de un óvulo ) Adherido un poco por encima de la base.
ascidiato: Con forma de jarra, como las hojas de las plantas jarra, por ejemplo, especies de Nepenthes y Sarracenia . ^{[ 21 ]}
reproducción asexual: Reproducción que no involucra gametos . A menudo se usa indistintamente con reproducción vegetativa .
asperuloso: Que tiene una textura áspera, como la del papel de lija; por ejemplo, algunas superficies de las hojas.
asimétrico: Irregular o desigual; que carece de cualquier plano de simetría ; por ejemplo, las flores de Canna .
atenuar: Estrechamiento gradual. Véase también Forma de la hoja .
aurícula: Un lóbulo con forma de oreja, en particular un apéndice lateral pequeño y redondeado de una hoja o un órgano similar a una hoja.
auriculado: Sujeta en la base con apéndices en forma de oreja ( aurículas ). Véase también Forma de la hoja .
autógamo: Autopolinizadoras, autofecundantes – en plantas con flores
arista: 1. Cualquier apéndice largo, parecido a una cerda .; 2. En las Poaceae , un apéndice que termina o se encuentra en el dorso de las glumas o lemas de algunas espiguillas de gramíneas .; 3. En las Geraniaceae , la parte del estilo que permanece unida al carpelo que se separa del carpóforo (columna).; 4. Elemento del vilano generalmente recto y rígido , que varía desde rígido como una cerda hasta duro y con forma de aguja. En Strophanthus , la arista es el pico de la semilla , estípite de los pelos de la coma .
axila: El ángulo superior entre una parte de una planta y otra, por ejemplo, el tallo y una hoja.
axial: En un eje; de una placenta , en el eje central del ovario .
axilar: Que nace en la axila o surge de ella , generalmente refiriéndose a la axila de una hoja.
eje: El tallo principal de una planta entera o inflorescencia ; también, la línea a lo largo de la cual se extiende este tallo.

B

baccato: Fruto que parece una baya que puede o no ser una verdadera baya. ^{[ 22 ]}
baculiform: En forma de varilla; más largo que ancho. Compárese con cilíndrico .
lengüeta: Una punta orientada hacia atrás, como en un anzuelo .
mordaz: Tener púas que apuntan en una dirección.
barbado: Que tiene pelos con púas ( barbellas ).
ladrar: La capa protectora externa de tejido en los tallos y raíces de árboles y arbustos leñosos ; incluye todo el tejido vivo y no vivo externo al cambium .
basal: Situado o unido en la base o cerca de ella (de una planta o un diagrama de árbol filogenético ).
basifijo: Algo unido por su base, por ejemplo, una antera unida al filamento . Compárese con dorsifijo .
basípeta: Se desarrolla secuencialmente desde el ápice hacia la base (es decir, con las más jóvenes hacia la base), por ejemplo, en las flores de una inflorescencia . También se desplaza desde las hojas hasta las raíces, por ejemplo, en las señales moleculares de las plantas.
batifilo: Una hoja especializada que se produce en la base de una planta, generalmente cuando la planta es inmadura, y que sirve para anclar la planta a un sustrato; especialmente notable en el helecho Teratophyllum . Contrasta con acrofilo .
pico: Una proyección terminal prominente y puntiaguda, especialmente de un carpelo o fruto .
baya: Un tipo de fruto indehiscente con las semillas inmersas en la pulpa, por ejemplo, un tomate .
bi-: Un prefijo que significa "dos", por ejemplo bisulcado , que tiene dos surcos o hendiduras.
bienal: Una planta que completa su ciclo de vida (es decir, germina, se reproduce y muere) en dos años o temporadas de crecimiento. Las plantas bienales suelen formar una roseta basal de hojas el primer año y luego florecen y dan fruto el segundo.
bífido: Bifurcado; cortado en dos aproximadamente por la mitad de su longitud. Comparar con trifido .
bifoliado: (de una hoja compuesta ) Que tiene exactamente dos folíolos , generalmente en un par simétrico, por ejemplo, una hoja de Colophospermum mopane . Compárese con hoja lobulada yugada , por ejemplo, la mayoría de las especies de Bauhinia .
bifusiform: Fusiforme con una constricción en el medio.
bilabiado: Que tiene dos labios, por ejemplo, la forma de los pétalos en muchas flores irregulares .
bilateral: 1. Que tiene dos lados distinguibles, como las dos caras de una hoja dorsiventral .; 2. Dispuestos en lados opuestos, por ejemplo, hojas en un tallo ; compárese con dístico y opuesto .; 3. Simétrico bilateralmente, como una hoja con un contorno simétrico.
bilocular: Tener dos lóculos , por ejemplo en las anteras o los ovarios .
binomio: Utilizar nombres compuestos por dos palabras para formar el nombre científico (o combinación de palabras) en latín. Por ejemplo, donde la primera es el nombre del género al que pertenece la especie , y la segunda es el epíteto específico que se le da a esa especie para distinguirla de otras del mismo género.
nomenclatura binomial: El sistema de nomenclatura en el que el nombre científico de una especie (y no de un taxón de otro rango) es una combinación de dos nombres, siendo el primero el nombre genérico y el segundo, el epíteto específico , el nombre botánico . Cabe destacar que ambos nombres (no solo el segundo) constituyen el nombre de la especie.
bipinnado: Doblemente pinnada ; por ejemplo, una hoja compuesta con folíolos individuales divididos pinnadamente.
bipinnatisecto: Una hoja pinnatisecta con segmentos profundamente disecados.
bisexual: Que presenta órganos reproductores masculinos y femeninos; generalmente, flores con estambres y carpelos ; sinónimo de hermafrodita , sinoico y monoclino . Las flores bisexuales solo se dan en plantas monoicas . Véase también andrógino , monoico y morfología reproductiva de las plantas .
bitegmic: (de un óvulo ) Cubierto por dos tegumentos . Contrasta con unitegmic .
biternato: Ternado , con cada división dividida en tres.
bivalvo: Que tiene dos válvulas o partes articuladas. Contrasta con la triválvula .
cuchilla: La lámina o parte aplanada de una hoja , excluyendo el tallo o pecíolo .
floración: Un fino polvo ceroso de color blanco o azulado que se encuentra en las partes de las plantas, generalmente tallos, hojas y frutos. Se elimina fácilmente frotando.
tronco: El tronco de un árbol, generalmente la parte que se encuentra debajo de la rama más baja. Comparar con dosel .
bostricoides: Dispuestos sobre una superficie cónica (como la concha de un caracol); se utiliza para describir inflorescencias en las que los brotes están dispuestos de manera casi helicoidal en el exterior de un raquis cónico largo y ahusado .
bráctea: Una hoja modificada asociada a una flor o inflorescencia y que difiere en forma, tamaño o color de otras hojas (y que carece de yema axilar ).
bracteato: Posee brácteas .
bracteola: Una pequeña bráctea que se encuentra sola o en pares en el pedicelo o cáliz ; sinónimo de bractleta .
bracteolato: Que posee bractéolas (bractletas).
bracteosa: Que tiene muchas brácteas o brácteas vistosas . ^{[ 23 ]}
bráctea: Ver bractéola .
ramita: Una pequeña rama .
brevideciduo: Una planta que pierde todas sus hojas solo brevemente antes de que le crezcan otras nuevas, de modo que permanece sin hojas solo durante un corto período de tiempo, por ejemplo, aproximadamente dos semanas.
cerda: Un pelo recto y rígido (liso o con dientes diminutos); la parte superior de una arista (cuando esta última está doblada y tiene una parte inferior, más robusta y generalmente retorcida, llamada columna ).
broquidódromo: Nervadura foliar pinnada en la que las venas secundarias no terminan en el margen de la hoja , sino que se unen en una sucesión de arcos prominentes .
folleto: Ancho de un lumen del retículo de un grano de polen y la mitad del ancho de los muri (paredes) circundantes, de ahí heterobrochado y homobrochado , donde los lúmenes son de tamaños diferentes o similares, respectivamente.
briofita: De manera informal, cualquier planta que sea un musgo , antocerota o hepática . Formalmente, estas plantas se clasifican en tres divisiones separadas: antocerotas ( Anthocerophyta ), hepáticas ( Marchantiophyta ) y musgos ( Bryophyta ).
bulbo: Órgano de almacenamiento grueso, generalmente subterráneo, que consta de un tallo y bases de hojas (las internas carnosas).
bulbel: Un bulbo que surge de otro bulbo. Véase bulbillo .
bulbillo: Un pequeño bulbo o tubérculo caduco que se forma en la axila de una hoja o pinna ; un medio de propagación vegetativa.
bulbillo: Un bulbo que surge de otro bulbo; un bulbo .
bulla: 1. Que tiene una apariencia redondeada o similar a una ampolla; arqueado o abovedado.; 2. (de una hoja) Que tiene tejido foliar arqueado entre cada nervio lateral, es decir, los nervios aparecen deprimidos en la superficie de la hoja.
mota: Una deformación o nudo en las ramas o el tronco de un árbol, a veces buscado en la carpintería. ^{[ 24 ]}
rebaba: 1. Un fruto espinoso .; 2. Propágulo áspero o espinoso que consiste en una semilla o fruto y partes florales o brácteas asociadas .
raíz de contrafuerte: Una raíz que crece desde un tallo o tronco aéreo y que proporciona soporte, por ejemplo, comúnmente en Ficus macrophylla .

do

caduco: Caída prematura, por ejemplo, los sépalos de las amapolas, que se caen cuando los pétalos comienzan a abrirse. Compárese con persistente y fugaz .
cespitosa: De crecimiento denso o similar al césped, por ejemplo, la forma de crecimiento de algunas gramíneas y ciperáceas.
calcarato: que posee una espuela .
calcáreo: Un tipo de suelo o un tipo de roca de sustrato de líquenes que es rico en carbonato de calcio o compuesto principalmente de este .
calceolato: Con forma de zapatilla. ^{[ 25 ]}
calcicole: Una planta que prospera en suelos calcáreos . También calcífila , calcífita . Antónimo : calcífuga . ^{[ 25 ]}
calosa: Endurecido; engrosado; calloso.
callo: 1. Una masa de tejido protuberante; 2. Crecimiento de tejido indiferenciado formado en respuesta a una herida; puede cultivarse in vitro .; 3. En las orquídeas, protuberancias carnosas del labelo que pueden tener diversas formas, desde papilas hasta placas.; 4. En las gramíneas, una extensión endurecida de la base de una flor (formada a partir del nudo de la raquilla y/o la base de la lema ), que puede o no alargarse y que a menudo está cubierta de pelos o cerdas.
calicifloro: Que tiene pétalos y estambres unidos al cáliz .
calicofila: Estructura similar a una hoja formada a partir de un sépalo o lóbulo del cáliz que se agranda, generalmente muchas veces, antes o después de la antesis , especialmente cuando la mayoría de los demás sépalos o lóbulos del cáliz conservan su tamaño original. Más extremos que un cáliz acrescente , los calicofilos se encuentran en Rubiaceae . Compárese con semáfilo y pterófilo .
calcular: Tener un epicáliz .
cáliz: 1. Estructura en forma de copa formada por brácteas que se asemejan a un cáliz externo .; 2. En algunas Asteraceae , un círculo de brácteas debajo del involucro .
caliptra: Una capucha o tapa. Véase opérculo .
cáliz: Término colectivo para los sépalos de una flor; el verticilo exterior de una flor, generalmente verde. Comparar con corola .
tubo del cáliz: Un tubo formado por la fusión de los sépalos ( cáliz ), al menos en la base.
cambium: Capa de tejido que proporciona células parcialmente indiferenciadas para el crecimiento de la planta.
en forma de la campana: En forma de campana.
camptódromo: Venación pinnada en la que las venas secundarias se curvan hacia los márgenes, en algunos casos llegando a ser casi paralelas a ellos, y no se vuelven a conectar con otras venas para formar bucles.
campilotropo: Cuando el óvulo está orientado transversalmente (es decir, con su eje perpendicular a su pedúnculo) y con un saco embrionario curvado . Compárese con anfítropo , anátropo y ortótropo .
canaliculado: Acanalado; que tiene una ranura longitudinal.
grisáceo: De color casi blanco, como una hoja cubierta de pelusa o lana blanca.
pabellón: Ramas y follaje de un árbol; la copa . También se refiere a la capa protectora superior de un bosque. Comparar con tronco .
capilar: 1. Tubo, poro o conducto con una sección transversal interna estrecha.; 2. Slender; hair-like.
capitate: 1. (of an inflorescence) Having a knob-like head, with the flowers unstalked and aggregated into a dense cluster.; 2. (of a stigma) Like the head of a pin.
capitulum: Dense cluster of sessile or subsessile flowers or florets, e.g. a flower head in the daisy family Asteraceae. See pseudanthium.
capsule: Dry fruit formed from two or more united carpels and dehiscing when ripe (usually by splitting into pieces or opening at summit by teeth or pores).
carduoid: In Asteraceae, having a style with a ring of sweeping hairs borne on the shaft of the style below the style branches.
carina: See keel.
carinal canal: Longitudinal cavity in the stems of Equisetum and extinct Equisetopsida, coinciding with a ridge in the stem surface.
carneous: Flesh-colored, especially as applied to some flowers.
carnose, carnous: Fleshy or pulpy in texture, especially as applied to some tissues or organs. Contrast coriaceous and corneous.
Caropodium: Genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae. Native range: Turkey to Iran. Not to be confused with Carpopodium
carpel: The basic female reproductive organ in angiosperms, either consisting of a single sporophyll or a single locule of a compound ovary, with a style and a stigma. The gynoecium is the collective term for all of the carpels of a single flower.
carpellary: Referring to carpels or to associated structures or outgrowths of carpels, for example staminodes attached to carpels in Nymphaeaceae, were frequently referred to as carpellary attachments. The current and past usage of the terms "carpellary attachments", paracarpels, and staminodes is confused and varies among authors.
carpopodium: On achenes (Cypselae), an elongation of the base of the gynoecium which looks distinct; the abscission zone, where the achene is separated from the receptacle.; 2. Genus Carpopodium in the family Brassicaceae; not to be confused with Caropodium.
cartilaginous: Hard and tough; gristly. Compare corneous and coriaceous.
caruncle: A small piece of flesh-like tissue, typically lumpy or warty, growing on the testa near the hilum. Contrast aril.
caryopsis: A dry, indehiscent, one-seeded fruit in which the seed coat is closely fused to the fruit wall, e.g. in most grasses.
Casparian strip: A continuous band of suberin in the radial primary cell walls of the endodermis in vascular plant stems and roots that forms a permeability barrier to the passive diffusion of external water and solutes into the vascular tissue.
cassideous: Hood-, helmet- or bonnet-shaped; generally referring to floral anatomy, e.g. in the flowers of Aconitum, Satyrium, etc.
castaneous: Chestnut-colored, reddish-brown.^[26]
casual alien: An exotic plant that appears with no apparent human assistance but does not develop a sustained population(s), or one that persists only by repeated new introductions. Compare alien.
cataphyll: Any plant structure which is morphologically a leaf but which has at most an incidental or transient photosynthetic function. They are either shed when their main function has been completed, or are incorporated into structures where, when dead, they serve a protective or supportive purpose.
catenulate: In the shape of a chain; formed of parts or cells connected as if chained together, e.g. some diatoms, algae, and cyanobacteria such as Anabaena. See also concatenate.
catkin: A spike, usually pendulous, in which the mostly small flowers are unisexual and without a conspicuous perianth, e.g. in willows, poplars, oaks, and casuarinas. The individual flowers often have scaly bracts and are generally wind-pollinated. Catkins are usually shed as a unit.
caudate: Having a narrow, tail-like appendage or tip, e.g. a drip tip. Contrast acuminate, cuspidate, and mucronate.
caudex: The stem of a plant, especially a woody one; also used to mean a rootstock, or particularly a basal stem structure or storage organ from which new growth arises. Compare lignotuber.
caudiciform: Stem-like or caudex-like; sometimes used to mean "pachycaul", meaning "thick-stemmed".
caudicle: diminutive of caudex. Meaning is context-dependent, usually referring to stem-like support of tiny items such as the pollinium of an orchid. Often used interchangeably with stipe
caulescent: possessing a well-developed stem above ground, similar to cauline. Antonym: acaulescent (lacking an apparent stem).
cauliflory: Having flowers or fruits growing directly from a tree's trunk.^[27]
cauline: Borne on an aerial stem or caulis, as with leaves, flowers, or fruits (when applied to the latter two organs, usually referring to older stems.
caulirosulate: Borne at the end of the stem or caulis, as with leaves or bracts.
cell: 1. The basic, microscopic unit of plant structure, generally consisting of compartments in a viscous fluid surrounded by a cell wall.; 2. A cavity of an anther or ovary.
cenanthous: (of a perianth) Lacking both stamens and pistil, i.e. a flower with neither androecium nor gynoecium.
centrifixed: Of a two-branched organ attached by its center, e.g. a hair or anther.
ceraceous: Having a waxy appearance, color, or texture, e.g. flowers of many species of Ceropegia, and the waxy fruit of some species of Myrica.
cernuous: Nodding, falling headlong or face down; inclined, stooping, or bowing forward. Applied to many species with a nodding, stooping habit, such as many Narcissus and Dierama species. Many plant species bear the specific epithet "cernua".
cespitose: An alternative spelling of caespitose, meaning tufted or turf-like, e.g. the growth form of some grasses.
chamber: A cavity of an ovary.
channelled: Sunken below the surface, resulting in a rounded channel.
chartaceous: Having a papery texture.
chasmogamous: Of flowers that are pollinated when the perianth is open. Compare cleistogamous.
chasmophyte: A plant adapted to growing in crevices or hollows, such as in cliff faces. Compare cremnophyte.^[28]^[29]
chimera: An individual composed of two or more genetically distinct tissues, most commonly as a result of a graft and sometimes by mutations that occur during cell division or cellular transfers during seed development.
chiropterophilous: Pollinated by bats.
chlorophyll: Any of a variety of different chemical pigments in chloroplasts that are essential for photosynthesis.
chloroplast: An organelle present in plant cells which contains chlorophyll.
chlorosis: An abnormal lack or paleness of color in a normally green organ.
cilia: Very small hairs or hair-like protrusions more or less confined to the margins of an organ, as with eyelashes; in motile cells, minute, hair-like protrusions which aid motility.
cinereous: Ash-colored, grayish, usually because of a covering of short hairs; somewhat darker than canescent.
circinate: Spirally coiled with the tip innermost, e.g. circinate vernation of the developing fronds of most ferns.
cirrhose: (of a leaf) Ending in a tendril at the apex.
cirrus: See tendril.
cladode: A photosynthetic branch or stem, often leaf-like and usually with foliage leaves either absent or much reduced. Compare phyllode.
cladoptosis: The shedding of entire branches or shoots, rather than just individual leaves.
class: The principal category for taxa ranking between division and order.
clathrate: Shaped like a net or lattice; pierced with apertures, as with a cage.
clavate: Club-shaped.
clavuncula: In the Apocynaceae, an enlarged, drum-shaped stigma of which the sides and lower surface are the receptive zones. Coherent with the anthers or not.
claw: 1. A narrow, stalk-like, basal portion of a petal, sepal, or bract.; 2. In Melaleuca, the united portion of a stamen bundle.
cleistogamous: Having flowers which self-pollinate and never open fully, or which self-pollinate before opening. Compare chasmogamous.
climacteric: A rough category of fruit that can undergo a ripening phase post-harvest, preceded or accompanied by an increase in ethylene respiration .
climber: A plant growing more or less erect by leaning on or twining around another structure for support, or by clinging with tendrils.
climbing: See climber.
cline: A continuous morphological variation in form within a species or sometimes between two species.
clone: A plant derived from the asexual vegetative reproduction of a parent plant, with both plants having identical genetic compositions.
coalescent: Having plant parts fused or grown together to form a single unit.
cochleariform: Concave and spoon-shaped.
cochleate: Coiled like a snail's shell.
coenobium: An arranged colony of algae that acts like a single organism.
coenocyte: A single cell with multiple nuclei, formed when nuclear division was not followed by cytokinesis.
coleoptile: One type of sheath in the structure of monocotyledonous seeds. The coleoptile is a protective sheath or cap (pileus), generally more or less pointed, that covers the monocotyledonous plumule as it emerges from the soil. It generally turns green and contributes to photosynthesis until its function is superseded by the main growth of the seedling. Contrast this with the coleorhiza, which remains underground until it is superseded as the roots emerge.
coleorhiza: One type of sheath in the structure of monocotyledonous seeds. The coleorhiza connects the coleoptile to the radicle and protects the monocotyledonous radicle during germination. Unlike the coleoptile, the coleorhiza is associated with the root and does not emerge from the soil during germination. Contrast coleoptile.
collenchyma: A specialized tissue consisting of living cells with unevenly thickened cellulose and pectin cell walls that performs a support function in organs such as leaves and young stems that are composed of primary plant tissues.
colleter: A multicellular, glandular hair that usually produces a mucilaginous substance and is located on sepals, stipules, or petioles, or on nearby parts of stems; commonly found on plants in the order Gentianales.
columella: In flowering plants, the tip of the central axis of the cone or fruit, e.g. in Callitris.
column: 1. A structure extending above the ovary and incorporating the style and stamens also known as the gynostegium, e.g. in orchids and milkweeds.; 2. In grasses, the lower, stouter, and usually twisted part of an awn, distinct from the slender upper part or bristle.
columnar: Shaped like a column.
coma: 1. A tuft of hairs from testa or funiculus at one or both ends of some seeds, e.g. in Strophanthus, Asclepias, or Alstonia.; 2. Sterile bracts, e.g. in Curcuma, Ananas, or Eucomis.; 3. Sterile flowers, e.g. in Muscari and Leopoldia, at the apex of some inflorescences.; 4. A tuft of hairs at the base of some flowers, e.g. in Pfaffia gnaphalioides.; 5. A tuft of hairs at the apex or base of some spikelets.; 6. An axil tuft of hairs in inflorescences in some Poaceae, e.g. in Eragrostis comata.
commercial name: A name often of no botanical standing and not governed by the ICNCP. The term generally applies to names such as Trademark Names, names covered by Plant Breeders Rights, Patents and Promotional Names, which are often used to enhance the sale of a plant.
commissure: The seam or face at which two carpels adhere. See also fissure and suture.
community: An ecological assemblage of plants that characteristically occur together.
compound: Composed of several parts, e.g. a leaf composed of multiple leaflets, a gynoecium composed of multiple carpels, or an inflorescence made up of multiple smaller inflorescences.
compound palmate: Having leaflets that radiate from a central point (usually at the top of a petiole), like spread-out fingers radiating from the palm of a hand. Compare palmate.
compressed: Flattened lengthwise, either laterally (from side to side) or dorsally (from front to back).
concatenate: Joined together in a chain-like form. See also concatenate and catenate.
concolorous: Having the same color throughout; uniformly colored.
conduplicate: Arranged such that two sides of a flat surface are folded along the midline to face each other. See also ptyxis, aestivation, and vernation.
cone: The sexual organs, often woody, and cone-shaped or ovoid to globular, including scales, bracts, or bracteoles arranged around a central axis, found in gymnosperms, especially conifers; also sometimes used colloquially, though botanically incorrectly, for the woody fruit of some angiosperms such as Alnus and Casuarina.
conflorescence: An inflorescence whose overall structure substantially differs from that of the individual branches of the inflorescence, e.g. members of the genera Callistemon, Grevillea and Hollandaea.
conical: In the shape of tree crowns, with a narrow cone shape, tapering evenly from the base to the top, and circular in cross-section. Found in many conifers such as fir and spruce, an adaptation to avoid damage by winter snow. In popular texts often erroneously called "pyramidal", which differs in being broader and having a quadrate cross-section.^[30]
connate: Fused to another organ (or organs) of the same kind, e.g. petals in a gamopetalous corolla tube. Compare adnate.
connective: The part of an anther that connects the anther cells.
connivent: Coming into contact or converging.
conspecific: Belonging to the same species.
contiguous: Adjoining, touching, but not united.
contort: (of sepals or petals) A type of imbricate aestivation in which one side of each segment overlaps one of the adjacent segments and the other side is overlapped by the other adjacent segment. See convolute.
contorted: Twisted out of the normal shape.
convolute: 1. Referring to the arrangement of floral or foliar organs in a bud when each organ or segment has one edge overlapping the adjacent organ or segment; a form of imbricate arrangement. See contort.; 2. (of leaves) A type of vernation in which one leaf is rolled up inside another.; 3. A type of vernation of two leaves at a node, in which one half of each leaf is exposed and the other half is wrapped inside the other leaf.
corcle: A plant embryo, plumule, or plumule plus radicle.
cordate: Heart-shaped, with the notch lowermost; of the base of a leaf, like the notched part of a heart. Contrast obcordate.
coriaceous: Leathery; stiff and tough, but flexible. Compare corneous.
corm: A fleshy, swollen stem base, usually underground and functioning in the storage of food reserves, with buds naked or covered by very thin scales; a type of rootstock.
cormel: A small corm (or cormlet), forming at the base of a growing larger corm.^[31]
corneous: Horny in texture; stiff and hard, but somewhat tough. Compare coriaceous.
corolla: A collective term for the petals of a flower. Compare calyx.
corolla tube: A tube formed by the fusion of the petals of a flower, for example Volkameria inermis.
corona: 1. In flowering plants, a ring of structures that may be united in a tube, inserting inside the corolla and derived from the corolla or stamens. The trumpet of a daffodil is a corona.; 2. In grasses, a hardened ring of tissue surmounting the lemma in some species.
cortex: A region of tissue located between the surface cells and the vascular cylinder.^[32]
corticolous: Growing on bark or on wood with the bark stripped off. Compare lignicolous.
corymb: An inflorescence with branches arising at different points but reaching about the same height, giving the flower cluster a flat-topped appearance.
costa: A costa is an extension of the petiole into the leaf blade, forming a midrib-like structure. This feature is characteristic of costapalmate leaves, which are intermediate between fan-shaped palmate and feather-like pinnate leaves. Also see rib.
costapalmate: Having a definite costa (midrib), unlike the typical palmate or fan leaf, but with the leaflets arranged radially as in a palmate leaf.
cotyledon: The primary leaf or leaves of a plant embryo which upon germination develops into the seed-leaf or the first set of leaves.
craspedodromous: Pinnate venation in which the secondary veins terminate at the margins, often as teeth.
crateriform: In the shape of a saucer or shallow cup; hemispherical or more shallow.
cremnophyte: A plant adapted to growing on, especially hanging from, cliff faces or crevices. Compare chasmophyte.^[28]^[29]
crenate: Having blunt or rounded teeth; scalloped.
crenulate: Minutely scalloped.
crisped: Finely curled, as with the edges of leaves and petals.
cristarque cell: A sclereid which contains a druse and has the lignin deposited excentrically on the cell wall to form a cup shape, or in cross-section, a ∪-shape.
crown: See canopy.
cross: To make something interbreed; the act of hybridization.
cruciform: Cross-shaped.
crustaceous: Hard, thin and brittle.
crustose: Forming a closely applied surface layer or crust.
cryptogam: Any of the "lower plants" which produce spores and do not have stamens, ovaries, or seeds; literally, plants whose sexual reproductive organs are not conspicuous. This group typically includes the ferns, bryophytes, and algae, and sometimes fungi (including lichenized fungi). Compare phanerogam.
cucullate: Hood-like or hooded, commonly referring to the shape of leaves or petals, e.g. Pelargonium cucullatum. Similarly derived terms include cuculliform and cuccularis.
culm: In grasses, sedges, rushes, and some other monocotyledons, an aerial stem bearing the inflorescence, extending strictly from the base of the plant to the lowest involucral bract (or base of the inflorescence).
cultigen: A plant whose origin or selection is primarily due to intentional human activity.
cultivar: A term derived from "cultivated variety" denoting an assemblage of cultivated plants clearly distinguished by one or more characters (morphological, physiological, cytological, chemical, or other). When reproduced (either sexually or asexually), the assemblage retains its distinguishing characters. A cultivar may arise in cultivation or be introduced from the wild. It is a variant that is of horticultural interest or value. Cultivar names are written with single quotation marks around them, e.g. 'Blue Carpet' or 'Alba'. All new names established after 1 January 1959 must be in common language (that is, not in Latin), but names established in Latin prior to this date are retained in Latin form.
cultivar epithet: The defining part of a name that denominates a cultivar. Cultivars are designated by fancy (q.v.) epithets appended either to the scientific name or to the common name of the taxon to which they belong; they are not italicized but placed in single quotation marks, e.g. Rubus nitidoides 'Merton Early'. 'Merton Early' is the cultivar epithet.
cuneate: Wedge-shaped, with straight sides converging at a base.
cupule: A cup-shaped structure composed of coalescent bracts, such as the cup of an acorn. See calybium.
cupular: Shaped like a cupule.
cupulate: Bearing cupules.
cupuliform: Nearly hemispherical, shaped like a cupola or dome.
cushion: Said of compact, low-growing plants that is found in alpine, subalpine, arctic, or subarctic environments around the world.
cusp: A hard, pointed tip, stiffer and more formidable than a mucro, hence cuspidate.
cuspidate: Tipped with a cusp, as with some leaves.
cuticle: A waterproofing layer covering the epidermis of aerial plant surfaces and composed of the polymers cutin, and/or cutan and waxes.
cutting: An apical tip of shoot structure, root, or leaf which is cut from a plant and used for asexual vegetative propagation.
cyathium: An inflorescence of unisexual flowers surrounded by involucral bracts, especially the flowers of Euphorbia.
cyathophyll: In Euphorbia, the bract-like structure on which the involucre sits, usually but not always occurring in twos. They may sometimes be brightly colored and confused with petals.
cylindrical: Rod-like and two to three times as long as wide. Compare baculiform.
cynaroid: See carduoid.
cyme: A type of inflorescence in which the main axis and all lateral branches end in a flower (each lateral may be repeatedly branched).
cymose: Having a cyme or cymes.
cypsela: A type of dry, one-seeded, indehiscent fruit formed from an inferior ovary.

D

deciduous

Dehiscing and falling seasonally, as with bark, leaves, or petals. Contrast persistent.

declinate

Curving downward, and then upward at the tip. Often qualified, e.g. declinate-ascendant.

decompound

Divided to more than one level, e.g. in bipinnate leaves, in which the leaflets of what would otherwise be a pinnate leaf are themselves pinnately divided.

decorticate

1. (intr. v.) To shed the outer bark of a tree, usually seasonally as part of the natural growth cycle.

2. (tr. v.) To strip the peel, crust, bark, or other surface tissues from a plant or from harvested material, such as in extracting fiber from harvested Agave leaves.

decumbent

Having branches growing horizontally along the ground but which are turned up at the ends.

decurrent

Extending downward beyond the point of insertion, e.g. when the base of a leaf or a fungal gill is prolonged downward along the stem in a raised line or narrow wing.

decussant

A synonym of decussate; the usage decussant is questionable and occurs rarely, probably as an error. The formally correct usage is decussate.

decussate

Opposite with successive pairs borne at right angles to the last; generally applied to the arrangement of leaves.

definite

Of a constant number, e.g. twice as many stamens as petals or sepals (or less), or an inflorescence ending in a flower or an aborted floral bud, typically a cymose inflorescence. Contrast indefinite.

deflexed

Bent downward. Contrast inflexed.

dehiscent

Breaking open at maturity to release contents; refers e.g. to the opening of fruits to release seeds, of anthers to release pollen, and of sporangia to release spores. Contrast indehiscent.

deltoid

Shaped like the uppercase Greek letter Δ, i.e. like a more or less equilateral triangle.

dendroid

Tree-like; branching like a tree.

dentate

Toothed, especially in reference to leaf margins.

denticulate

Finely toothed; a diminutive form of dentate.

deserticolous

Inhabiting a desert.

determinate

Limited, usually in growth. Contrast indeterminate.

diadelphous

Referring to a class of adelphous structure in which the stamens or similar organs are connected in two adelphiae instead of just one.

diaspore

Any reproductive part of a plant adapted for dispersal and for establishing new plants; may be a disseminule such as a seed, or other parts such as specialized buds, branches, inflorescences, or fruits.

dichasium

A cymose inflorescence with all branches below the terminal flower in regular opposite pairs. Compare monochasium and pleiochasium.

dichlamydeous

Having a perianth which is divided into a separate calyx and corolla. Compare homochlamydeous.

dichotomous

Forking into two equal branches. This may result from an equal division of the growing tip, or may be sympodial, in which the growing tip is aborted and replaced. Typically refers to mode of branch growth, as in Aloidendron dichotomum, but also to other organs, such as the venation patterns on leaves, the thorns of various species of Carissa (which morphologically are branches), and the thalli or hyphae of various algae and fungi.

dicotyledon

A flowering plant whose embryo has two or more cotyledons (seed leaves). Contrast monocotyledon.

digitate

With segments spreading from a common center, like the fingers of a hand. See also palmate and palmatisect. See also Leaf shape.

digitiform

Shaped like a finger.

dimidiate

Halved. Referring to phyllodes with one more or less straight edge and the other edge convex.^[33]

dimorphic

Occurring in two different forms (with respect to shape and/or size), e.g. of stamens, fronds, or leaves. See also monomorphic (having a single form) and polymorphic (having many forms).

dioecious

(of vascular plants) Having male and female reproductive structures which develop only on different individuals and never on the same individual. Contrast monoecious.

dioicous

(of a bryophyte gametophyte) Having male and female reproductive structures which develop only on different individuals and never on the same individual. Contrast monoicous.

diploid

Having two complete sets of chromosomes in the nucleus of a sporophyte cell, i.e. one set from each of the parental gametes. This is often expressed symbolically as 2n, where n = the number of chromosomes in the haploid gamete.

diplostemonous

Having stamens arranged in two whorls, with the outer whorl alternating with the petals while the inner whorl is opposite the petals. Compare obdiplostemonous and haplostemonous.

disc

A plate or ring of structures derived from the receptacle, and occurring between whorls of floral parts. In some groups, especially Sapindales, the nectary is in the form of a prominent disk. In daisies, the central part of the capitulum is a disk, hence flowers borne there are called disk flowers or florets.

discoid

Resembling a disc or plate, having both thickness and parallel faces and with a rounded margin. Also used to describe the flower head of Asteraceae where there are no ray florets but only disc florets.

discolorous

(of leaves) Having upper and lower surfaces of different colors.

disjunct

Occurring in widely separated geographic areas, distinctly separate; applies to a discontinuous range in which one or more populations are separated from other potentially interbreeding populations with sufficient distance so as to preclude gene flow between them.

disk floret

A floret occurring most typically in the disk of the capitulum of flowers in the family Asteraceae, and to some extent in other plants that bear a flowering head with a disk, such as Scabiosa.

dissected

Deeply divided; cut into many segments.

dissepiment

A partition or septum in a plant part, usually referring to septa between the loculi of capsules or of other fruits with multiple partitions.

distal

Remote from the point of origin or attachment; the free end. Contrast proximal.

distichous

Arranged in two opposite rows (and hence in the same plane).

distinct

Separate or free; not united.

distyly

The condition in which the flowers of a species occur in two forms that differ only by the length of the style and stamens, and flowers of only one of these forms appear on any one plant. Compare heterostyly.

diurnal

Of the day; occurring or opening in the daytime.

divaricate

Wide-spreading.

divergent

Spreading in different directions, generally upward.

division

A taxonomic rank below kingdom in the standard taxonomic hierarchy. "Division" is generally used only for plants, and is the approximate botanical equivalent of the term phylum, which is used for animals and other kingdoms.

domatia

Any hollow structure formed by a plant that is inhabited by animals such as ants or mites.

dorsal

From Latin dorsum, a ridge or the back of an animal. Partly because the term originally referred to animals rather than plants, usage in botany is arbitrary according to context and source. In general "dorsal" refers to "the rear or back or upper surface", but in botanical usage such concepts are not always clearly defined and may be contradictory. For example:

facing away from the axis (abaxial) in a lateral organ of an erect plant
facing away from the substrate in any part of an erect plant, for example the upper surface of a more or less horizontal leaf (adaxial) or the upper part of the crown of the plant
facing away from the substrate in a prostrate or climbing plant or floating leaves such as those of Nymphaea.

Derived or related terms include dorsad, "toward the dorsal", and dorsum, "the dorsal part of the organ or organism as a unit". Related anatomical terms of location include ventral, lateral.

dorsifixed

Attached at or by the back, e.g. anthers on a filament.

dorsiventral

Having structurally and visibly different upper and lower surfaces, e.g. some leaves. Compare bilateral and isobilateral.

drip-tip

A long, narrow, acuminate, caudate, or cuspidate extension at the tip of a leaf or leaflet. Commonly an adaptation to rainy conditions, as it promotes shedding of water by its dripping from the narrow tip. The term drip tip is not anatomically descriptive in the way that acuminate or cuspidate are, for example; rather, it is a description of the functional shape that aids dripping, regardless of the specific geometry of the shape itself.

drupe

A type of succulent fruit formed from one carpel; the single seed is enclosed by a stony layer of the fruit wall, e.g. in peaches and olives. Also called a kernel.

drupelet

A small drupe formed from one of the carpels in an apocarpous flower. Drupelets usually form a compound fruit, as in Rubus, but they may become widely separated, as in Ochna.

druse

A globular mass of calcium oxalate crystals, usually with the crystals radiating from an organic core.

Dissepiment developing in tissue of carpels where they meet to form locules in the capsule of the ovary of Lilium
Boophone disticha has conspicuously distichous leaves.
Domatia at the bases of the thorns of Vachellia drepanolobium, the whistling thorn, with visible access holes
Dorsiventral (bilateral) leaves of Syzygium gerrardii and Triadica sebifera
Leaves of Epipremnum aureum (golden pothos) have a cuspidatedrip tip.

E

-eae: A suffix added to the stem of a generic name to form the name of a tribe, e.g. Aster → Astereae.
ebracteate: Lacking bracts; synonymous with ebracteolate.
ecological amplitude: The range of environmental conditions in which an organism can survive.
edaphic: Of or influenced by the soil.
eglandular: Not having glands.
elaiosome: An external structure attached to the seed of many species of plants. Elaiosomes generally look fleshy and in some species they are rich in oils or other nutritious materials. Their functions vary and are not always obvious; commonly they attract ants or other animals that aid in dispersal, but they may also repel other animals from eating the seed.^[34]
elephophily: A form of pollination whereby pollen or spores are distributed by the feet of elephants, as in Rafflesia arnoldii.
ellipsoid: A three-dimensional shape that is elliptical in all sections through the long axis.
elliptical: Planar, shaped like a flattened circle, symmetrical about both the long and the short axis, tapering equally both to the tip and the base; oval.
emarginate: Typically in reference to leaf margins: notched or recessed at some part of the edge, such as the apex; the recess usually is broad and shallow. The location of a leaf's emargination(s) might be one or more of apical, lateral or basal
embryo: The young plant contained by a seed prior to germination.
emergent: A plant taller than the surrounding vegetation or, among aquatic plant species, one that bears flowers and commonly leaves above the surface of the water. Aquatic examples include water lilies, reeds, and papyrus. Some pondweeds such as Stuckenia are not emergent until they flower, at which time only their flowers appear above the water surface.
enation: Leaf-like outgrowth from a surface.^[35]
enantiostyly: The condition in which the gynoecium protrudes laterally, to the right (dextrostyly) or to the left (sinistrostyly) of the androecium, e.g. Senna.
endemic: Having a natural distribution restricted to a particular geographic region. Compare native.
endocarp: The innermost layer of the wall of a fruit; in a drupe, the stony layer surrounding the seed.
endodermis: The innermost layer of the cortex of vascular plant roots, also present in the stems of pteridophytes. The radial walls are impregnated with suberin to form a permeability barrier known as the Casparian strip.
endosperm: 1. (angiosperms) A nutritive tissue surrounding the embryo of the seed, usually triploid, originating from the fusion of both polar nuclei with one gamete after the fertilization of the egg.; 2. (gymnosperms) The prothallus within the embryo sac.
endospory: The production of spores that germinate into a reduced multicellular gametophyte contained within the spore wall. Contrast exospory.
ensiform: Shaped like the blade of a sword.
entire: 1. Not divided.; 2. (of a margin) Smooth and not lobed or toothed (though possibly wavy or scalloped). See also entire in Glossary of leaf morphology
entomophily: A form of pollination whereby pollen or spores are distributed by insects.
epecophyte: Species of recent appearance, usually numerous and constant in the country, but confined to artificial habitats, such as meadows and ruderal vegetation and are dependent on humans for existence.^[36]
ephemeral: Short-lived. See also caducous.
epicalyx: An involucre resembling an outer calyx, e.g. as in Hibiscus. Made of small bract-like leaflets called episepals.
epicarp: The outer layer of the wall of a fruit, i.e. the "skin".
epicormic: Used to refer to buds, shoots, or flowers developing from the old wood of trees, especially after injury or fire.
epicotyl: The part of the plant axis or stem between the cotyledonary node and the first foliage leaves.
epicuticular wax: A layer of crystalline or amorphous wax deposited on the surface of the cuticle.
epidermis: An organ's outermost layer of cells, usually only one cell thick.
epigynous: Borne on the ovary; describes floral parts when attached above the level of the ovary and arising from tissue fused to the ovary wall. Compare hypogynous and perigynous.
epilithic: Growing on stone. Compare lithophytic, a plant growing on stone.
epipetalous: Of stamens that are attached to the petals.
epipetric: Growing on rock or stone, lithophytic, epilithic.
epiphloeodal: Growing on the surface of bark. Contrast endophloeodal (growing inside, not on, the bark) and epilithic (growing on rock, not bark).
epiphyte: A plant, alga or fungus that grows on another plant without deriving nourishment from it but using it for support.
epiphytic: Of an epiphyte; living on the surface of a plant. Compare epilithic, lithophytic.
episepal: Small bract-like leaflets that make up an extra calyx (epicalyx) located below the true calyx
episepalous: Of stamens that are attached to the sepals.
epitepalous: Of stamens that are attached to the tepals.
epithet: The adjectival component in a binomial scientific name, usually more specifically called a specific epithet; the final word or combination of words in a name of more than one word (other than a term denoting rank) that denominates an individual taxon. The simplest and commonest example is the second word in a two-word name of a species, such as "mirabilis" in Welwitschia mirabilis.
epizoochory: A type of seed dispersal that occurs when seeds or fruits physically adhere to the outside of vertebrate animal bodies.
epruinose: Not pruinose.
equitant: (of a leaf) Folded lengthwise and clasping another leaf.
erect: Upright, more or less perpendicular to the ground or point of attachment. Compare patent (spreading) and erecto-patent, between erect and patent.
ericoid: Having leaves like those of the European heaths (Erica); small and sharply pointed.
erose: (of a margin) Irregular as though nibbled or worn away.
ethelochoric: Deliberate introduction by seedlings, seeds or plants in a new habitat by humans.
etiolation: Weak growth due to lack of light, resulting in elongated stems and yellowish color.^[37]
even-pinnate: Having an even number of leaflets in a compound leaf; synonymous with paripinnate.
evergreen: Not deciduous; having leaves all year.
ex: In nomenclature, indicating that the preceding author proposed the name but did not legitimately publish it, and that the succeeding author referred to the first author when legitimately publishing the name. See Author citation (botany).
exalbuminous: In seeds of a given species, having no endosperm, i.e. no albumen, e.g. in Fabaceae and Combretaceae.
exocarp: The outer layer of the pericarp, often the skin of fleshy fruits.
exospory: The production of spores that germinate into free-living multicellular gametophytes. Contrast endospory.
exotesta: The outer layer of the testa (seed coat). It is derived from the outer integument of the ovule.
exotic: Not native; introduced from another region or country.
exserted: Projected beyond, e.g. stamens beyond the corolla tube.
exstipulate: Lacking stipules.
extrastaminal: Outside the stamens or androecium, usually referring to the location of a nectary disk.
extrorse: (of anther locules) Opening toward the outside of the flower. Contrast introrse and latrorse.

F

F1 hybrid: A single cross; a plant breeding term for the result of a repeatable cross between two pure bred lines.
F2 hybrid: A plant breeding term for the result of a plant arising from a cross between two F1 hybrids; may also refer to self-pollination in a population of F1 hybrids.
fabiform: Shaped like a kidney bean.
facultative: Able to perform a particular life function, or to live generally, in more than one way.^[38] Compare obligate.
falcate: Curved like the blade of a scythe.
family: A taxonomic group of one or more genera with features, ancestry, or both in common. It is the term for the principal rank between order and genus.
farina: Powdery, pale yellow, crystalline secretion consisting of flavonoids in Primula and other species.
farinaceous: Powderiness that is mealy.
fascicle: A cluster of flowers, leaves, needles, vascular tissue, etc., e.g. a tuft of leaves all arising from the same node.
fasciculate: Branching in clusters, e.g. a bundle of sticks or needles; having fascicles.
fastigiate: 1. In Plant morphology, the habit of a plant that consists in part, of a bundle of erect, more or less parallel branches or stems, particularly if they form or taper to a peak or point. (Latin fastigiatus, meaning "having a peak".; 2. In palynology, the form of a pollen grain that has a fastigium, a pointed apex over a hollow between the layers of the pollen outer wall.
faucal: Pertaining to the fauces; located in the throat of a calyx or corolla.
fauces: The throat of a calyx or corolla; the conspicuously widened portion between the mouth and the apex of the tube. In Boraginaceae, the site of distinctive appendages.
faveolate: Honeycombed; having regular, angled pits. Compare foveolate.
felted: Having interlocked hairs to the extent of being matted.^[28]
female flower: See pistillate flower.
fenestrate: Having translucent or transparent areas that let light through; this variously affects the behavior of animal visitors or permits photosynthesis in many arid-region plants that grow only to the soil surface. Also refers loosely to perforations, for which perforate is the more precise term.
ferruginous: Ruddy or rust-colored.
fertile: Capable of producing fruit; of flowers when they produce seed, or of anthers containing pollen.
fertilization: The union of male and female gametes during sexual reproduction.
fiber: 1. A fiber cell.; 2. Any flexible, strong, stringy, and very elongate structure.
fiber cell: A type of cell that is found in sclerenchyma; it is much elongated, and dies soon after an extensive modification of its cell wall. The cell wall is usually thickly lignified but is sometimes gelatinous.
filament: 1. The stalk of a stamen.; 2. Any very narrow, thread-like structure that is one or a few cells thick.
filamentous: Consisting of filaments or fibers; hairlike.
filiform: Thread-like, e.g. stamen filaments or leaf shapes.
fimbria: Slender, hair-like projection; fringe.
fimbriate: Fringed, e.g. where the ends of a petal are split into two or more divisions.^[39] Having fimbriae.
fissure: A split or crack, often referring to fissured bark; a line or opening of dehiscence.
fistule: A tube-shaped cavity.
fistulose: Hollow; usually applied to a tube-shaped cavity, as in a reed.
flabellate: Fan-shaped, e.g. a flabellate (fan-shaped) leaf.
flaccid: Limp; tending to wilt. Compare turgid.
flexistyly: Depending on the degree of maturation of the stamens, the style moves up or down (cataflexistyle or (ana-)hyperflexisyle).
flexuous
flexuose: Bent alternately in different directions; zigzag.
floccose: Having a soft and wooly covering of hairs.
flora: 1. All the plants growing in a certain region or country.; 2. An enumeration of them, generally with a guide to their identification (e.g. the Flora of North America, Flora of China, Flora of Victoria, Flora of New South Wales, and so on). In this case, flora is written with a capital F.
floral envelope: See perianth.
floral leaves: The upper leaves at the base of the flowering branches.
floral diagram: A graphical means to describe flower structure, usually a schematic cross-section through a young flower.
floral formula: A description of flower structure using numbers, letters, and various symbols.
floral tube: An imprecise term sometimes used as a synonym of hypanthium, corolla tube, or calyx tube.
floret: A small flower, usually referring to the individual true flowers clustered within an inflorescence, particularly those of the Poaceae grasses and the pseudanthia of family Asteraceae.
flower: The sexual reproductive structure of the angiosperms, typically with a gynoecium, androecium, perianth, and an axis.
foliate: 1. When describing a whole plant: leafy or having leaves (as opposed to nonfoliate).; 2. When preceded by a number: specifying a number of leaflets, e.g. 3-foliate means "having three leaflets".
foliicolous: A growth habit of certain lichens, algae, and fungi that prefer to grow on the leaves of vascular plants.
follicle: A dry fruit formed from one carpel splitting along a single suture to which the seeds are attached, e.g. from the pod of a legume.^[40]
foliole: A leaflet of a compound leaf.
foliose: Leaf-like; flattened like a leaf.
forb: In American English, a term used for any non-woody flowering plant that is not a grass, sedge, or rush. Roughly equivalent to herb in British and other forms of English
forest: Vegetation dominated by trees with single trunks, including closely arranged trees with or without an understory of shrubs and herbs.
forma (in common usage, form): A taxonomic category subordinate to species and within the taxonomic hierarchy, below variety (varietas), and usually differentiated by a minor character. Its abbreviation is "f."
foveolate: Having regular tiny pits. Compare faveolate.
free: Not united with other organs of the same type; not attached at one end.
free central: (of placentation) Ovules attached to a free-standing column in the center of a unilocular ovary.
frond: A leaf of a fern, cycad, or palm.
frutescent: Shrub-like (fruticose) or becoming shrub-like.
fruticose: Shrubby; having the branching character of a shrub.
fruit: A seed-bearing structure, present in all angiosperms, formed from the mature ovary and sometimes associated floral parts upon fertilization.
fugacious: Disappearing, falling off, or withering. Compare persistent and caducous.
funicle (funiculus): The stalk of an ovule.
funnelform: Having a form gradually widening from the base to the apex; funnel-shaped.
furcate: Forked, usually applied to a terminal division; with two long lobes.
fused: Joined together.
fusiform: Rod-shaped and narrowing gradually from the middle toward each end; spindle-shaped.

G

galbulus

From Latin, galbulus, the cone (megastrobilus) of the Mediterranean cypress. By modern extension, a specialist term for the cone of any species in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It includes the fleshy cones borne by junipers, which are often mistakenly called berries.

galea

An overhanging, helmet-shaped, structure that protects the reproductive parts from precipitation, wind or unwanted visitors.

gall

Abnormal outgrowth on external plant tissues, caused by various parasites, from viruses, fungi and bacteria, to other plants, insects and mites.

gamete

A cell or nucleus that fuses with another of the opposite sex during sexual reproduction.

gametophore

Specialized structures on the gametophytes of some bryophyte species, for example many species in the order Marchantiales; in such species the gametes are produced on the gametophores.

gametophyte

The haploid multicellular phase in the alternation of generations of plants and algae that bears gametes. In bryophytes the gametophyte is the dominant vegetative phase; in ferns and their allies it is a small free-living plant known as the prothallus; in gymnosperms and angiosperms the gametophytes are reduced to microscopic structures dependent on the sporophyte, male gametophytes contained in pollen grains and females contained within the ovules.

gamopetalous

with joined or fused petals

gamophyllous

a single perianth-whorl of united segments. Compare symphyllous (synonym), apophyllous, and polyphyllous.

gemma

an asexual reproductive structure found in liverworts and mosses.

gene pool

The complete range of genetic variation found within a population.

genus

A group of one or more species with features or ancestry (or both) in common. Genus is the principal category of taxa intermediate in rank between family and species in the standard nomenclatural hierarchy.

generic name

The name of a taxonomic genus, such as Acacia and Eucalyptus.

genotype

The genetic make-up of an individual.

geophilous

Growing or rooting in the ground.

germination

1. of seeds, describing the complex sequence of physiological and structural changes that occur from resting to growth stage.

2. of a pollen grain; production of a pollen tube when contacting a stigma receptive to it.

3. of a spore of fungi/bacterium; change of state – from resting to vegetative.

gibbous (gibbose)

(of part of an organ) Swollen, usually with a pouch-like enlargement at the base.

glabrescent

Becoming glabrous, almost glabrous; glabrate.

glabrous

Lacking surface ornamentation such as hairs, scales or bristles; smooth.

gland

A secretory structure within or on the surface of a plant.

glandular hair

A hair tipped with a gland.

glaucous

Describing the external surface of a plant part that has a whitish covering, in some cases with a blueish cast. Often applied to plants with a wooly or arachnoid surface, but properly referring to pruinose surfaces, meaning those with a waxy bloom. The surfaces of the young leaves of many eucalypts provide good examples, and so do some xerophytes.

globose

Roughly spherical. See also subglobose.

globulose

Approximately spherical.

glochid

A tiny barbed hair or bristle, e.g. the fine defensive hairs in cactus species such as Opuntia.

glomerule

An inflorescence consisting of a compact cluster of sessile or subsessile flowers.

glumes

bracts subtending the floret(s) of a sedge, or similar plant; in grasses forming the lowermost organs of a spikelet (there are usually 2 but 1 is sometimes reduced; or rarely, both are absent).

glutinous

Sticky.

graft

1. The artificial union of plant parts.

2. A plant shoot suitable for grafting; loosely, a scion, sucker, or branch.

graft chimaera (sometimes graft hybrid)

A taxon whose members consist of tissue from two or more different plants in intimate association originated by grafting. The addition sign "+" is used to indicate a graft-chimaera either as a part of a formula (e.g. Crataegus monogyna + Mespilus germanica) or in front of an abbreviated name (e.g. + Crataegomespilus 'Dardari'). The nomenclature of graft hybrids is governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants.

graminaceous

Of or relating to grass.

graminoid

An herbaceous plant with a grass-like morphology.

granular

(of a surface) Covered with small rounded protuberances.

grass

A plant of the family Poaceae.

grassland

Low vegetation dominated by grasses.

groundcover

1. Dense vegetation that covers the ground.

2. A term applied to describe a plant that covers the soil surface so densely that it smothers all beneath it.

group

A formal category equivalent to or below the rank of genus which distinguishes

an assemblage of two or more cultivars within a species or hybrid;
plants derived from a hybrid in which one or more of the parent species is not known or is of uncertain origin; or,
a range of cultivated plants of a species or hybrid which may exhibit variation but share one or more characters, which makes it worth distinguishing them as a unit.

guard cell

Each of two cells surrounding the stoma which control gas exchange between the apoplast of the plant and the external environment.

guttate

Having droplet-shaped spots. Compare punctate and maculate.

guttation

The secretion of liquid water from uninjured plant parts. See hydathode.

guttulate

Having or appearing to be spotted with oil droplets; of spores, having oil droplets inside.

gymnosperm

A seed-bearing plant with unenclosed ovules borne on the surface of a sporophyll. Gymnosperms are among the oldest clades of vascular plants, and today are represented by approximately 1,000 extant species worldwide, including, among others, conifers, Ginkgo, Gnetum and cycads. Compare angiosperm.

gynaecium

Alternative term for gynoecium, but with partly different etymology.

gynobasic

Of a style, arising near the base of the gynoecium, e.g. between the lobes of the ovary.

gynodioecious

Of a species, with some plants bearing only bisexual flowers and others bearing only female flowers.

gynomonoecious

Of a species, with bisexual flowers and female flowers on the same plant.

gynoecium

The collective term for the female reproductive parts of a flower or for the carpels of a flower, whether united or free. Contrast androecium. Abbreviation: G. For instance, G indicates a superior ovary; G(5) indicates having five fused carpels.

gynophore

A stalk supporting the gynoecium and situated above the level of insertion of the other floral parts.

gynostegium

A compound organ in milkweeds (Asclepiadaceae) and orchids formed by fusion of the filaments of the stamens with the style. Also known as the column.

Scanning electron micrograph of a stoma on the leaf of Haemanthus. The two lip-shaped cells on either side of the pore are the guard cells.
Drops of guttation fluid on the dentate points fringing the immature leaf of a grapevine
Examples of gymnosperms
LEFT1-Welwitschia mirabilis2-Cycas revoluta3-Taxus baccata4-Ginkgo bilobaRIGHT1-Cupressus sempervirens2-Sequoiadendron giganteum3-Agathis dammara4-Araucaria heterophylla

H

habit: The general external appearance of a plant, including size, shape, texture, and orientation.
habitat: The place where a plant lives; the environmental conditions of its home.
hair: A single elongated cell or row of cells borne on the surface of an organ.
half-inferior ovary: An ovary partly below and partly above the level of attachment of the other floral parts. Compare inferior ovary and superior ovary.
halonate: Having a transparent coating, or being of a spore's outer layer.
halophyte: A plant adapted to living in highly saline habitats; a plant that accumulates high concentrations of salt in its tissues.
hand-pollination: The controlled act of pollination that excludes the possibility of open-pollination.
haploid: Having one set of chromosomes, e.g. the complement of chromosomes in each of the cells of the gametophyte, the nucleus of a gamete, and the spores. This is expressed symbolically as n, where n = the gametic number of chromosomes. Compare diploid, triploid, and tetraploid.
haplostemonous: Having a single series of stamens equal in number to the proper number of petals, and alternating with them. Compare diplostemonous and obdiplostemonous.
harmomegathy: process by which pollen grains in arid environments close off their apertures to avoid losing water
hastate: Triangular in outline, the basal lobes pointing outward, so that the base appears truncate; may refer only to the base of a leaf with such lobes. Compare sagittate, which refers to basal lobes pointing backward.
haustorium: In parasitic plants, a structure developed for penetrating the host's tissues.
head: See capitulum, a pseudanthium.
heathland: Vegetation dominated by small shrubs which usually have ericoid leaves.
helicoid: Coiled; of a cymose inflorescence, when the branching is repeatedly on the same side (the apex is often recurved). Compare scorpioid.
heliophilous: Requiring or tolerating strong, direct sunlight.
hemerochory: A plant that has been transported voluntarily or involuntarily by humans in a territory which it could not have colonized by its own natural mechanisms of dissemination, or at least much more slowly.^[36]
hemi-legume: A legume fruit in which the seed or seeds and one valve of the pod are dispersed as a unit. The valve catches the wind and blows away with the seeds, as in Acacia tenuifolia and Peltogyne paniculata.
herb: Any vascular plant that does not develop a woody stem at any point during its life cycle, e.g. a daffodil.
herbaceous: Not woody; usually green and soft in texture.
herbarium: A collection of preserved, usually pressed and dried, plant material used for identification and comparison; also a building in which such collections are stored.
herkogamy: A flower with parts arranged so that pollen from the anthers is unlikely to be transferred to the stigma without assistance of a pollinator.^[41]
hermaphrodite: A synonym of bisexual.
hesperidium: A form of berry that occurs most familiarly in the genus Citrus. The fruit tends to be large for a berry, ranging from not much more than a centimeter in small fruited genera such as Murraya, to 15 cm or more in some varieties of Citrus. The outer rind typically is thick and tough with many oil glands, while the carpels within are packed with juicy fibers.
heteroblastic: Having parts, especially leaves, that are distinctly different between the juvenile and adult stages.
heterophyllous: Having more than one leaf type on the same plant. For example, leaves adapted to the open air and leaves adapted to being under water in Ranunculus aquatilis.^[42]
heterophylly: A condition in which a plant has two or more types of leaves that differ in form and/or function.^[43]
heteromorphic: Having two or more distinct morphologies (e.g. of different size and shape). Compare isomorphic.
heterospory: The production of spores of two different sizes (small and large) by the sporophytes of land plants. Compare homospory.
heterostyly: The condition of a species having flowers with different style and stamen lengths, but with all the flowers of any one plant being identical. See distyly.
hilum: The scar on a seed coat where it separates from its stalk (funicle).
hip: The fruit of a rose plant.
hippocrepiform: Horseshoe-shaped.
hirsute: Bearing coarse, rough, longish hairs. See indumentum.
hispid: Bearing long, erect, rigid hairs or bristles, harsh to touch.
hoary: Covered with a greyish to whitish layer of very short, closely interwoven hairs, giving a frosted appearance.
holotype: A type chosen by the author of a name. Compare lectotype.
homochlamydeous: Having a perianth which is not divided into a separate calyx and corolla. Contrast dichlamydeous.
homospory: The production of spores of only one size by the sporophytes of land plants. Compare heterospory.
hort.: Of gardens, an author citation used in two ways:1. as a name misapplied by gardeners; 2. as an invalid name derived from horticultural writings of confused authorship.
husk: Protective outer covering of certain seeds, for example, the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize (corn), the leathery covering of the walnut, or the spiky covering of the chestnut.
hyaline: Translucent; usually delicately membranous and colorless.
hybrid: Plant produced by the crossing of parents belonging to two different named groups, e.g. genera, species, varieties, subspecies, forma and so on; i.e. the progeny resulting within and between two different plants. An F1 hybrid is the primary product of such a cross. An F2 hybrid is a plant arising from a cross between two F1 hybrids (or from the self-pollination of an F1 hybrid).
hybrid formula: The names of the parents of a hybrid joined by a multiplication sign, e.g. Cytisus ardonoi × C. purgans.
hydrophily: Form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by the flow of waters.
hypanthium: Tube or cup-like structure in a flower that includes the bases of sepals, petals, and stamens, and may or may not be connected (adnate) to the ovary.
hyper-resupinate: In botany, describing leaves or flowers that are in the usual position but are borne on a petiole or pedicel that is twisted 360 degrees. The term is used to describe organs, such as orchid flowers, that are usually resupinate. Compare resupinate.
hypocarpium: Enlarged fleshy structure that forms below the fruit from the receptacle or hypanthium.
hypocotyl: Of an embryo or seedling, the part of the plant axis below the cotyledon and node, but above the root. It marks the transition from root to stem development.
hypocrateriform: Salver-shaped. Synonym of salverform. From Greek kratḗrion: a vessel.
hypogynous: Borne below the ovary; used to describe floral parts inserted below the ovary's level of insertion. Compare epigynous and perigynous.
hysteranthous: Type of growth in which new leaves appear after flowering. Also spelled histeranthous. Compare proteranthous and synanthous.

I

idioblast: A cell, especially of a leaf, differing markedly from surrounding cells. They often synthesise specialized products such as crystals.
illegitimate name (nomen illeg.): A name not abiding by the rules of the botanical Codes, e.g. later homonyms, cultivars that have been Latinised after 1 Jan 1959; cultivar names with more than 10 syllables or 30 letters; cultivar names that use confusing names of other plants, e.g. Camellia 'Rose'.
imbricate: From the Latin for "tiled". Overlapping each other; of perianth parts, edges overlapping in the bud (the convoluted arrangement is a special form of imbrication). Dormant buds of many deciduous species are imbricately covered with protective cataphylls called bud scales. Compare with subimbricates meaning lightly overlapping
imparipinnate: A pinnate leaf with an odd number of pinnae (terminated by a single leaflet). Compare paripinnate.
in: In nomenclature, where the preceding author published the name in an article or book, authored or edited by the succeeding author.
-inae: The suffix added to the stem of a generic name to form the name of a subtribe: for instance, Corydalinae from Corydalis + -inae.
inbreeding: The production of offspring between closely related parents leading to a high degree of similarity; self-fertilization is the most intense form of inbreeding.
incertae sedis: Of unknown taxonomic affinity; relationships obscure.
incised: Cut deeply and (usually) unevenly (a condition intermediate between toothed and lobed).
included: Enclosed, not protruding, e.g. stamens within the corolla.
incomplete flower: A flower which lacks one or more of its usual parts, such as carpels, sepals, petals, pistils, or stamens.
incurved: Bent or curved inward; of leaf margins, when curved toward the adaxial side.
ined.: An abbreviation of Latin inedita, an unpublished work. Used to indicate that a botanical name appeared only in a manuscript that was not published, so the name is invalid.
indefinite: variable in number, and as a rule numerous, e.g. more than twice as many stamens as petals or sepals, but no particular standard number of stamens. In another usage it is a synonym for the preferable term indeterminate, meaning the condition in which an inflorescence is not terminated by a flower, but continues growing until limited by physiological factors. Compare numerous. Contrast definite.
indehiscent: Not opening in any definite manner at maturity; usually referring to fruit. Contrast dehiscent.
indeterminate: usually referring to a stem or inflorescence in which there is no particular terminal bud or meristem that stops growth and ends the extension of the stem, which continues until physiological factors stop the growth. Racemes of some Xanthorrhoeaceae, such as many Aloes, and of many Iridaceae, such as Watsonias, are indeterminate. Contrast determinate.
indigenous: Native to the area, not introduced, and not necessarily confined to the region discussed or present throughout it (hardly distinct from ‘native' but usually applied to a smaller area). For example, the Cootamundra Wattle is native to Australia but indigenous to the Cootamundra region of southern New South Wales. Compare endemic.
indumentum: Collective term for a surface covering of any kind of trichomes, e.g. hairs, scales.
induplicate: Folded upward, or folded with the two adaxial surfaces together.
indusium: 1. Membrane covering the sori of some ferns.^[44]; 2. Cup enclosing the stigma in Goodeniaceae.^[44]
inferior ovary: An ovary at least partly below the level of attachment of other floral parts. Compare superior ovary and half-inferior ovary.
inflated: Swollen, like a bladder.
inflexed: Bent sharply upward or forward. Compare deflexed.
inflorescence: several flowers closely grouped together to form an efficient structured unit; the grouping or arrangement of flowers on a plant.
infraspecific: denotes taxonomic ranks below species level, for example subspecies.
infrageneric: denoting taxonomic ranks below the genus level, for example, subgenera, sections, and series.
infructescence: the grouping or arrangement of fruits on a plant.
infundibular (infundibuliform): funnel-shaped, for example in the corolla of a flower.
inrolled: rolled inward.
insectivorous: catching, and drawing nutriment from, insects.
insertion, point of: The point at which one organ or structure (such as a leaf) is joined to the structure which bears it (such as a stem).
inserted: growing out from
integument: in general, any covering, but especially the covering of an ovule.
intercalary: (e.g. of growth) occurring between the apex and the base of an organ
intercalary meristem: a meristem located between the apex and the base of an organ
interjugary glands: in pinnate leaves, glands occurring along the leaf rachis between the pinnae (occurring below the single, and often slightly larger, gland at or just below the insertion of the pinnae). Compare jugary.
internode: The portion of a stem between two nodes.
interpetiolar: (of stipules) Between the petioles of opposite leaves, e.g in Rubiaceae.
intramarginal: inside but close to the margin. For example, an intramarginal vein is one that parallels, and is very close to, the leaf margin.
intrastaminal: inside the stamens or androecium, usually referring to the location of a nectary disk.
introrse: of anther locules, with opening toward the center of flower (at least in bud). Compare extrorse and latrorse.
invalid: Use of names not validly published according to the Code, i.e. they are not strictly 'names' in the sense of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
involucre: A structure surrounding or supporting, usually a head of flowers. In Asteraceae, it is the group of phyllaries (bracts) surrounding the inflorescence before opening, then supporting the cup-like receptacle on which the head of flowers sits. In Euphorbiaceae it is the cuplike structure that holds the nectar glands, nectar, and head of flowers, and sits above the bract-like cyathophyll structure. Involucres occur in Marchantiophyta, Cycads, fungi, and many other groups.
involute: Rolled inward, for example when the margins of a leaf are rolled toward the adaxial (usually upper) surface. Compare revolute.
iridescent: Having a reflective colored sheen produced by structural coloration, as in the speculum of the mirror orchid Ophrys speculum.
irregular: Not able to be divided into two equal halves through any vertical plane. See also asymmetrical. Compare zygomorphic, actinomorphic, and regular.
isobifacial: (of flat structures, especially leaves) Having both surfaces similar, usually referring to cell types or to the number and distribution of stomata.
isomerous: Having an equal number of parts in the whorls.
isomorphic: with all features morphologically similar, i.e. of similar size and shape. Compare heteromorphic.
isotomic: Having branches of equal diameter. Compare anisotomic.
iteroparity: Referring to an organism, such as a plant, that potentially reproduces repeatedly instead of dying after reproducing for the first time; the opposite of semelparity

J

joint: A node or junction of two parts; articulation.
jugary: associated with a jugum or something yoke-like; see for example jugary gland.
jugary gland: A gland occurring on the rachis of a pinnate or bipinnate leaf on a jugum, the junction or attachment of pairs of pinnae or pinnules, as in some Acacia species. Compare interjugary.
jugate: yoke-like; describing a structure of paired items joined together as in a jugum or something yoke-like, such as some leaves and fruit.
jugum: applied to various yoke-like organs, usually in the sense of their being paired, such as a pair of pinnae on a rachis.
juvenile leaves: Leaves formed on a young plant, typically differing from the adult leaves in form.

K

keel: A prominent longitudinal ridge like the keel of a boat, e.g. the structure of the corolla formed by the fusion of the lower edge of the two abaxial anterior petals of flowers in the Fabaceae.
kernel: See drupe.
kettle trap: another term for the kettle-like pitchers of any of the carnivorous pitcher plants, in which they trap their prey.
key innovation: A novel phenotypic trait that allows subsequent evolutionary radiation and success of a taxonomic group.
kidney shape: A term describing a kidney-shaped object such as a bean or a leaf; more formally, oblately cordate, or crescent-shaped with the ends rounded.
kingdom: the highest generally employed category of the taxonomic hierarchy, above that of division (phylum). The Plant Kingdom includes vascular plants, bryophytes and green algae and is also known as the clade Viridiplantae.
Klausenfrucht: Klausen or Klausenfrucht (German) is a special type of fruit in Lamiaceae and Boraginaceae. A dry, dehiscent fruit formed from a superior ovary with axil or basal placentation, with an adherent calyx, from more than one carpel and usually breaking apart into one-seeded units by separating each carpel by false septa. One unit is a half carpel. Mostly there are four units, seeds. English terms are eremocarp, schizocarp, mericarp or nutlet.
knee: abrupt bend in a root or stem, commonly at a node; a cypress knee, or pneumatophore, is a type of bend or knob in the root of some plants, especially some species in the genus Taxodium, that shows as a projection of the root above ground level or mud level.

Kidney-shaped leaf of Cucurbita maxima
Typical knee at a node in a grass stem
Unusually dense stand of Taxodium distichumknees around the parent tree

L

labellum: lip; one of three or five petals which is (usually) different from the others, e.g. in Orchidaceae, Zingiberaceae, Cannaceae and Stylidiaceae.
labiate: lipped; where a corolla is divided into two parts, called an upper and lower lip, the two resembling an open mouth with lips.
lacerate: jagged, as if torn.
laciniate: Of lobes – with ends irregularly divided into deeply divided, narrow, pointed segments; Of margins – deeply divided into pointed segments in an irregular manner.
lacuna: An empty space, hole, cavity, pit, depression, or discontinuity.
lamella: Thin, plate-like layer. Composed of an assemblage of many layers.
lamina: the blade of a leaf or the expanded upper part of a petal, sepal or bract.
lanate: covered in or composed of wooly hairs.
lanceolate: longer than broad, narrowly ovate, broadest in the lower half and tapering to the tip, like a lance or spear head; (sometimes, and incorrectly, used to mean narrowly elliptic).
lanuginose: covered in long hairs that cross and/or interweave with each other. More commonly the term lanate is used.^[45]
lateral: attached to the side of an organ, e.g. leaves or branches on a stem. For more detail see dorsal.
latex: a milky fluid that exudes from such plants such as spurges, figs and dandelions.
laticiferous: latex-bearing, producing a milky juice.
latrorse: a type of anther dehiscence in which the anthers open laterally toward adjacent anthers. Compare introrse and extrorse.
lauroid: resembling Laurus, the laurel genus, particularly its leaves.
lax: loose, not compact.
leaf: an outgrowth of a stem, usually flat and green; its main function is food manufacture by photosynthesis. Abbreviation: lvs.
leaf gap: a parenchymatous area in the stele above (distal to) a leaf trace.
leaf scar: A healing layer forming on a stem where a leaf has fallen off.
leaf sheath: The basal portion of the petiole that wraps around the plant stem.
leaf trace: A vascular bundle connecting the stele to a leaf.
leaflets: The ultimate segments of a compound leaf.
legume: 1. a fruit characteristic of the family Fabaceae, formed from one carpel and either dehiscent along both sides, or indehiscent.; 2. a crop species in the family Fabaceae.; 3. a plant of the family Fabaceae.
lemma: the lower of 2 bracts enclosing a grass flower.
lenticel: Typically lenticular (lens-shaped) porous tissue in bark with large intercellular spaces that allows direct exchange of gases between the internal tissues and atmosphere through the bark.
lenticellate: Having lenticels
lenticular: 1. lens-shaped.; 2. covered in lenticels.
lepidote: covered with small scales.
leprose: powdery
liana: a woody climbing plant, rooted in the ground (liane is also used).
liane: a woody climbing plant, rooted in the ground. See also liana.
ligneous: having hard lignified tissues or woody parts, woody
lignum: Dead wood, typically in the context of a substrate for lichens.
lignicolous: Growing on wood tissue after bark as fallen or been stripped off (compare to corticolous).
lignotuber: a woody swelling of the stem below or just above the ground; contains adventitious buds from which new shoots can develop, e.g. after fire.
ligulate: 1. bearing a ligule.; 2. strap-shaped.
ligule: 1. A small membranous appendage on the top of the sheath of grass leaves.; 2. A minute adaxial appendage near the base of a leaf, e.g. in Selaginella.; 3. An extended, strap-like corolla in some daisy florets.
linea, line, British line, Paris line: Various pre-metric units somewhat larger than 2 mm, used in botany into the 20th century. See Line (unit) and Paris line.
linear: Very narrow in relation to its length, with the sides mostly parallel. See Leaf shape.
lingulate: tongue-shaped.
lip: A labellum.
lithophytic: A plant growing on rocks; an epilithic plant.
lobe: Part of a leaf (or other organ), often rounded and formed by incisions to about halfway to the midrib.
lobulate: Having, consisting of or relating to a lobe or lobes.
loculicidal: (of a fruit) Dehiscing through the centers of loculi. Compare septicidal.
locule: A chamber or cavity containing seeds within an ovary, pollen within an anther or spores in a sporangium.
lodicule: One of two or three minute organs at the base of the ovary of a grass flower, representing parts of a strongly reduced perianth.
lomentum or loment: A pod-like indehiscent fruit that develops constrictions between the segments and at maturity breaks into one-seeded segments instead of splitting open.
longicidal: (of anthers) Opening lengthwise by longitudinal slits. Compare poricidal.
lunate: Crescent-shaped.
lumen: The cavity bounded by a plant cell wall.
lyrate: Lyre-shaped; deeply lobed, with a large terminal lobe and smaller lateral ones.

M

maculate: Spotted; marked with spots.
male flower: See staminate flower.
mallee: A growth habit in which several woody stems arise separately from a lignotuber; a plant with such a growth habit, e.g. many Eucalyptus species; vegetation characterized by such plants.
mangrove: Any shrub or small tree growing in salt or brackish water, usually characterized by pneumatophores; any tropical coastal vegetation characterized by such species.
margin: The edge of a structure, as in the edge of a leaf blade.
marginal: Occurring at or very close to a margin.
marsh: A waterlogged area or swamp.
mast: Edible fruit and nuts produced by woody species of plants (e.g. acorns and beechmast) which is consumed on the ground by wildlife species and some domestic animals.
mealy: Covered with coarse, floury powder.
medulla: pith. See also medullary rays in wood.
megasporangium: the larger of two kinds of sporangium produced by heterosporous plants, producing large spores that contain the female gametophytes. Compare microsporangium.
megaspore: the larger of two kinds of spores produced by a heterosporous plant, giving rise to the female gametophyte. Compare microspore.
megasporophyll: in hetersoporous plants, a modified leaf bearing one or more megasporangia. Compare microsporophyll.
megastrobilus: the larger of two kinds of cones or strobili produced by gymnosperms, being female and producing the seeds. Compare microstrobilus.
membranous: thin, translucent and flexible, seldom green.
mericarp: one segment of a fruit (a schizocarp) that splits at maturity into units derived from the individual carpels, or a carpel, usually 1-seeded, released by the break-up at maturity of a fruit formed from 2 or more joined carpels.
meristem: Any actively dividing plant tissue.
mesic: Moist, avoiding both extremes of drought and wet; pertaining to conditions of moderate moisture or water supply; applied to organisms (vegetation) occupying moist habitats.
mesocarp: The fleshy portion of the wall of a succulent fruit inside the skin and outside the stony layer (if any), surrounding the seed(s); sarcocarp.
mesocaul: With moderately thick twigs. Compare pachycaul.
mesomorphic: Soft and with little fibrous tissue, but not succulent.
mesophyll: 1. The parenchyma tissues between the upper and lower epidermis. They vary in function, but usually include the photosynthetic tissue of a leaf.; 2. In ecology, the blade of a leaf or leaflet that has a surface area 4500–18225 mm²; a plant, or vegetation, that has mesophyll (sized) leaves.
mesophyllous: (of vegetation) Of moist habitats and having mostly large and soft leaves.
mesophyte: A plant thriving under intermediate environmental conditions of moderate moisture and temperature, without major seasonal fluctuations.
micropyle: Opening at apex of ovule.
microsporangium: The smaller of two kinds of sporangium produced by a heterosporous plant, producing microspores that contain the male gametophyte. Compare megasporangium.
microspore: The smaller of two kinds of spores produced by a heterosporous plant. Compare megaspore.
microsporophyll: In heterosporous plants, a modified leaf bearing one or more microsporangia. Compare megasporophyll.
microstrobilus: The smaller of two kinds of cones or strobilus produced by gymnosperms, being male and producing the pollen. Compare megastrobilus.
midrib: The central and usually most prominent vein of a leaf or leaf-like organ.
midvein: See midrib.
monad: A single individual that is free from other individuals, not united with them into a group. The term is usually used for pollen to distinguish single grains from tetrads or polyads.
monadelphous: A term describing stamen filaments that are fused for the greater part of their length, forming a tube around the style.
moniliform: Resembling a string of beads.
monocarpic: Flowering and setting seed only once before dying. See also semelparous.
monochasium: A cymose inflorescence with the branches arising singly. Compare dichasium and pleiochasium.
monocot: An abbreviation of monocotyledon.
monocotyledon: A flowering plant whose embryo contains one cotyledon (seed-leaf). Compare dicotyledon.
monoecious: (of vascular plants) Hermaphroditic, with all flowers bisexual, or with male and female reproductive structures in separate flowers but on the same plant, or of an inflorescence that has unisexual flowers of both sexes. Contrast dioecious.
monoicous: (of bryophyte gametophytes) Hermaphroditic or bisexual, where both male and female reproductive structures develop on the same individual. Contrast dioicous.
monograph: Of a group of plants, a comprehensive treatise presenting an analysis and synthesis of taxonomic knowledge of that taxon; the fullest account possible (at the time) of a family, tribe or genus. It is generally worldwide in scope and evaluates all taxonomic treatments of that taxon including studies of its evolutionary relationships with other related taxa, and cytological, genetic, morphological, palaeobotanical and ecological studies. The term is often incorrectly applied to any systematic work devoted to a single taxon. Compare revision.
monomorphic: Of one type, rather than several. See also dimorphic (two types) and polymorphic (many types).
monophyllous: Having a single leaf.
monopodial: A mode of stem growth and branching in which the main axis is formed by a single dominant meristem. Contrast sympodial.
monostromatic: Being a single cell thick, as in the algaMonostroma.
monothecous: having a sole compartment or cell. Compare Dithecous.
monotypic: Containing only one taxon of the next lower rank, e.g. a family with only one genus, or a genus that includes only a single species.
morphology: The shape or form of an organism or part thereof.
mucro: A sharp, short point, generally at the tip of a leaf or the tip of the midrib of a compound leaf.^[28]
mucronate: Terminating in a mucro.
multiple fruit: A cluster of fruits produced from more than one flower and appearing as a single fruit, often on a swollen axis, as with many species of the family Moraceae. Compare aggregate fruit.
muricate: Covered with short, hard protuberances.
mutation: In times before the nature of genetic encoding was understood, mutation was regarded as an abrupt, and sometimes heritable, variation from the norm of a population; for example a plant might unexpectedly produce "double" flowers, a novel color, or a habit of growth uncharacteristic of the species or variety. Advances in genetics and molecular biology in the mid-twentieth century, showed that biological mutations comprise and reflect changes in the nucleic acid molecules that encode the genome of an organism or virus. The nucleic acid affected could be DNA in the chromosomes, or it could be extrachromosomal DNA (typically DNA in the mitochondria or chloroplasts). In RNA viruses a mutation would be a change to the genetic information that the RNA encodes.
mycelium: The "vegetative" (nonreproductive) part of a fungus, mostly composed of aggregations of hyphae. It functions in substrate decomposition and absorption of nutrients.
mycorrhiza: One of several types of symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a plant.
mycotroph: A plant that obtains most or all of its carbon, water, and nutrients by associating with a fungus.

N

native: Naturally occurring in an area, but not necessarily confined to it. Compare endemic.
natural hybrid: A hybrid taxon produced by chance in the wild.
naturalised: Describing a plant, introduced from another region, that grows and reproduces readily in competition with the natural flora.
nectar: A usually sweet, nutrient-rich fluid produced by the flowers of many plants and collected by bees and other pollinators.
nectary: A specialized gland that secretes nectar.
neophyte: A plant that has recently been introduced to a geographic area. Contrast archaeophyte.
nerve: Another name for a vein.
node: The part of a stem from which leaves or branches arise.
nomen conservandum: (Latin) A conserved name, usually a name that became so much better known than the correct name, that a substitution was made.
nomen illegitimum: A name that is either superfluous at its time of publication because the taxon to which it was applied already has a name, or the name has already been applied to another plant (a homonym).
nomen invalidum: A name that is not validly published, and technically is therefore not a botanical name. Abbreviation: nom. inval. See Validly published name.
nomen nudum: A name not published in accordance with the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, usually without a diagnosis or description of the entity to which it applies, and without reference to either; such a name should not be used.
nomenclature: The naming of things; often restricted to the correct use of scientific names in taxonomy; a system that sets out provisions for the formation and use of names.
noxious: Of plants, containing harmful or unwholesome qualities. Applied in conjunction with 'weed' to specifically describe a plant which legislation deems harmful to the environment. Each state and territory in Australia has specific legislation governing noxious weeds.
nucellus: The tissue of the ovule of a seed plant that surrounds the female gametophyte. It is enclosed by integuments and is not of epidermal origin.
numerous: Stamens are described as numerous when there are more than twice as many as sepals or petals, especially when there is no set number of them. Compare indefinite.
nut: A hard, dry, indehiscent fruit containing only one seed.
nutlet: 1. A small nut.; 2. One of the lobes or sections of the mature ovary of some members of the Boraginaceae, Verbenaceae, and Lamiaceae.

O

ob-: A prefix meaning "inversely"; usually the same shape as that described by the word stem, but attached by the narrower end. See obcordate, oblanceolate and obovate.
obconic: (of a fruit, hypanthium, pistil, or calyx) Shaped like an inverted cone, attached at the apex.
obcordate: (of a leaf blade) Broad and notched at the tip; heart-shaped but attached at the pointed end.
obdiplostemonous: Having stamens arranged in two whorls, and having twice as many stamens as petals, with the outer whorl being opposite the petals. Compare diplostemonous and haplostemonous.
oblanceolate: Having a lanceolate shape but broadest in the upper third.
oblate: Having a spherical shape but flattened at the poles.
obligate: (of parasites) Unable to survive without a host. Contrast facultative.
oblique: Slanting; of a leaf or stem, larger on one side of the midrib than the other, in other words asymmetrical.
obloid: Having a three-dimensional oblong shape, e.g. a fruit.
oblong: Having a length a few times greater than the width, with sides almost parallel and ends rounded.
obovate: (of a leaf) Having a length about 1.5 times the width, and widest above the center.
obovoid: Egg-shaped, with narrower portion at base; 3-dimensional object, ovate in all sections through long-axis. Compare ovoid
obsolete: Not evident, or at most rudimentary or vestigial.
obtrapeziform: trapeziform, but attached by the narrower trapezoidal base (e.g. of a leaf)
obtuse: Blunt or rounded; having converging edges that form an angle of more than 90°. Compare acute.
ocrea: A sheath formed from two stipules encircling the node in members of the Polygonaceae.
odd-pinnate: Having an odd number of leaflets in a compound pinnate leaf, such that there is only one terminal leaflet.
oft.: An abbreviation of "often". Compare usu. and s.t..
-oideae: A suffix added to the stem of a generic name to form the name of a subfamily, e.g. Fumaria → Fumarioideae.
olim: Formerly, e.g. "olim B", formerly in the Berlin herbarium (Herbarium Berolinense).
ontogeny: The sequence of developmental stages through which an organism passes as it grows.
operculum (calyptra): A lid or cover that becomes detached at maturity, e.g. in Eucalyptus, a cap covering the bud and formed by the fusion or cohesion of perianth parts.
opposite: 1. Describing leaves or flowers borne at the same level but on directly opposite sides of their common axis.; 2. Describing the occurrence of something on the same radius as something else, e.g. anthers opposite sepals. Compare alternate.
opus utique oppressum: Listed after the botanical name of a plant, or the name of a publication, this indicates that a publication is listed in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants as a suppressed work. Botanical names of the specified rank in the publication are considered not validly published (article 34).
orbicular: Flat and more or less circular.
order: A group of one or more families sharing common features, ancestry, or both.
ortet: The original single parent plant from which a clone ultimately derives.
orthotropous: Describes an ovule that is erect, with the micropyle directed away from the placenta; atropous. Compare amphitropous, anatropous, and campylotropous.
oval: See elliptical.
ovary: The basal portion of a carpel or group of fused carpels, enclosing the ovules.
ovate: Shaped like a section through the "long axis" of an egg and attached by the wider end.
ovoid: Egg-shaped, with wider portion at base; 3-dimensional object, ovate in all sections through long-axis. Compare obovoid
ovule: Loosely, the seed before fertilization; a structure in a seed plant within which one or more megaspores are formed (after fertilization it develops into a seed).

P

pachycaul: with a disproportionately thick trunk
pachycladous: with disproportionately thick stems
palate: An expanded lower lip of a flower that nearly or entirely blocks the opening of a flower tube, as in a snapdragon flower.^[46]
palea: 1. The upper of two bracts enclosing a grass flower, major contributors to chaff in harvested grain.; 2. Chaffy scales on the receptacles of many Asteraceae.; 3. Chaffy scales on the stipe of many ferns.
paleate: Bearing paleae or chaffy scales, as in description of the receptacle of a capitulum of a plant in the Asteraceae.
paleaceous: Chaff-like in texture.
palmate: 1. leaf with veins radiating out from a central point (usually at the top of a petiole), resembling spread out fingers pointing away from the palm.; 2. A compound palmate leaf has leaflets that radiate from a central point (usually at the top of a petiole).
palmatifid: Deeply divided into several lobes arising from more or less the same level.
palmatisect: Intermediate between palmate and palmatifid, i.e. the segments are not fully separated at the base; often more or less digitate.
pandurate: shaped like the body of a fiddle (mainly, of plant leaves)
panicle: A compound raceme; an indeterminate inflorescence in which the flowers are borne on branches of the main axis or on further branches of these.
papilionate: Butterfly-like; having a corolla like that of a pea.
papilla: A small, elongated protuberance on the surface of an organ, usually an extension of one epidermal cell.
pappus: In daisy florets, a tuft or ring of hairs or scales borne above the ovary and outside the corolla (representing the reduced calyx); a tuft of hairs on a fruit.
paracarpel: Ill-defined term, variously interpreted and applied to: organs attached to carpels; staminodes close to the gynoecium; and to a pistillode in a staminate flower
paraperigonium: An anomalous secondary outgrowth of the perianthal meristem with ramifying vasculature. See also perigonium, perianth, and corona.^[47]
parasite: An organism living on or in a different organism, from which it derives nourishment. Some plant species are parasitic. Compare saprophyte and epiphyte.
parenchyma: A versatile ground tissue composed of living primary cells which performs a wide variety of structural and biochemical functions in plants.
parietal: Attached to the marginal walls of a structure, e.g. ovules attached to placentas on the wall of the ovary. See placentation.
paripinnate: Having an even number of leaflets (or pinnae), i.e. terminated by a pair of pinnae as opposed to a single pinna. Compare imparipinnate.
parthenocarpy: The development or production of fruit without fertilization. Compare stenospermocarpy.
patent: Spreading; standing at 45–50° to the axis. See also erecto-patent.
patulous: See patent.
pauciflor: Having few flowers per inflorescence. Compare pluriflor and uniflor.
pectinate: Pinnately divided with narrow segments closely set like the teeth of a comb.
pedate: Having a terminal lobe or leaflet, and on either side of it an axis curving outward and backward, bearing lobes or leaflets on the outer side of the curve.
pedicel: The stalk of a flower; may also be applied to the stalk of a capitulum in the Asteraceae.
peduncle: The stalk of an inflorescence.
peltate: Shield-like, with the stalk attached to the lower surface and not to the margin.
pellucid: Transmitting light; for example, said of tiny gland dots in the leaves of e.g. Myrtaceae and Rutaceae that are visible when held in front of a light.
pendulous: Hanging, for example an ovule attached to a placenta on the top of the ovary. Compare suspended.
penicillate: Tufted like an artist's brush; with long hairs toward one end.
penninervation: With pinnately arranged veins.
pentamerous: In five parts, particularly with respect to flowers, five parts in each whorl. See also trimerous and tetramerous.
pepo: A type of berry formed from an inferior ovary and containing many seeds, usually large with a tough outer skin (e.g. a cucumber, pumpkin or watermelon).
perennating: Of an organ that survives vegetatively from season to season. A period of reduced activity between seasons is usual.
perennial: A plant whose life span extends over several years.
perfect: (of a flower) Bisexual; containing both male and female reproductive parts in the same inflorescence. Contrast imperfect.
perfoliate: With its base wrapped around the stem (so that the stem appears to pass through it), e.g. of leaves and bracts.
perforate: With many holes. Used to describe the texture of pollen exine, and also to indicate that tracheary elements have a perforation plate. See also fenestrate.
perforation plate: in a tracheary element, part of the cell wall that is perforated; present in vessel members but not in tracheids. Should not be confused with a pit.
perianth: The collective term for the calyx and corolla of a flower (generally used when the two are too similar to be easily distinguishable). Abbreviation: P; for instance, P 3+3 indicates the calyx and corolla each have 3 elements, i.e. 3 sepals + 3 petals.
pericarp: The wall of a fruit, developed from the ovary wall.
periclinal: Curved along parallel to a surface. Compare anticlinal.
pericycle: A cylinder of parenchyma or sclerenchyma cells that lies just inside the endodermis and is the outer most part of the stele of plants.
perigonium: In flowering plants, synonym of perianth.; 2. In mosses, the leaves surrounding the antheridia, also called a splash-cup, e.g. in Polytrichum juniperinum.
perigynium: A sac from a modified tubular bract, or when fully closed an utricle, around the pistillate flower of sedges
perigynous: Borne around the ovary, i.e. of perianth segments and stamens arising from a cup-like or tubular extension of receptacle (free from the ovary but extending above its base). Compare epigynous and hypogynous.
persistent: Remaining attached to the plant beyond the usual time of falling, for instance sepals not falling after flowering, flower parts remaining through maturity of fruit. Compare deciduous and caducous.
perule: 1. The scales covering a leaf or flower bud, or a reduced scale-like leaf surrounding the bud. Buds lacking perulae are referred to as "naked".; 2. In Camellias the final bracts and sepals become indistinguishable and are called perules.; 3. A kind of sac formed by the adherent bases of the two lateral sepals in certain orchids.
petal: In a flower, one of the segments or divisions of the inner whorl of non-fertile parts surrounding the fertile organs, usually soft and conspicuously colored. Compare sepal, tepal.
petalody: The transformation of reproductive organs of flower into petals.
petaloid: Like a petal; soft in texture and colored conspicuously.
petiolary (or petiolar): Associated with a petiole, as in petiolary glands.
petiolate: (of a leaf) Having a petiole. Contrast sessile.
petiole: The stalk of a leaf.
petiolule: The stalk of a leaflet.
petricolous: Rock-dwelling; living on or among rocks.
phaneranthous: Showy, as in showy flowers that advertise to pollinators, as opposed to aphananthous (unshowy)
phanerogam: Gymnosperms and angiosperms; plants producing stamens and gynoecia; literally plants with conspicuous sexual reproductive organs. Compare cryptogams.
phenology: The study of the timing of seasonal biological phenomena, such as flowering, leaf emergence, fruit ripening and leaf fall.
phloem: Specialized conducting tissue in vascular plants that transports sucrose from the leaves to other plant organs.
photosynthesis: Process by which energy from sunlight is used to convert carbon dioxide and water into simple sugars in cells containing chloroplasts. All plants, except certain parasites, can perform photosynthesis.
phyllary: Individual bract within an involucre or involucel.
phyllid: Leaf-like extension of the stem in Bryophytes
phyllode: A leaf with the blade much reduced or absent, and in which the petiole and or rachis perform the functions of the whole leaf, e.g. many acacias. Compare cladode.
phyllopodium: (in ferns) A short outgrowth of the stem on which the frond is borne and which remains attached to the rhizome after the frond has been shed.
phylloplane: the surface of a leaf, considered as a habitat for organisms.
phyllosphere: The above-ground surface of plants as a habitat for epiphytic microorganisms.
phylum: A level of classification or taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class. Traditionally, in botany the term division has been used instead of phylum.
phytomelan: A black, inert, organic material that forms a crust-like covering of some seeds, commonly found in Asparagales, Asteraceae, etc.
pileate: Having a cap, a pileus.
pileus: A cap or cap-shaped structure, such as the cap of mushrooms or the plumule of some monocotyledons.
piliform: Having the shape of a cap, a pileus.
pilose: covered with soft, weak, thin and clearly separated hairs, which are usually defined as long and sometimes ascending.
pinna: A primary segment of a compound leaf.
pinnate: A compound leaf with leaflets arranged on each side of a common petiole or axis; also applied to how the lateral veins are arranged in relation to the main vein.
pinnatifid: Pinnately lobed.
pinnatisect: pinnately divided almost to midrib but segments still confluent.
pinnule or pinnula: Usage varies:ultimate free division (or leaflets) of a compound leaf,ora pinnate subdivision of a multipinnate leaf.
pistil: 1. a single carpel when the carpels are free.; 2. a group of carpels when the carpels are united by the fusion of their walls.
pistillate flower: a flower containing one or more pistils but no fertile stamens. Sometimes called a female flower. Contrast with staminate flower
pistillode: A sterile or rudimentary pistil such as may appear in a staminate flower.
pit: In tracheary elements, a section of the cell wall where the secondary wall is missing, and the primary wall is present. Pits generally occur in pairs and link two cells.
pith: The central region of a stem, inside the vascular cylinder; the spongy parenchymatous central tissue in some stems and roots.
placenta: The tissue within an ovary to which the ovules are attached.
placentation: The arrangement of ovules inside ovary; for example axile, free-central, parietal, marginal, basal, or apical.
Plant Breeders Rights (PBR): These rights, governed by Plant Breeder's Rights Acts give the plant breeder legal protection over the propagation of a cultivar, and the exclusive rights to produce and to sell it, including the right to license others to produce and sell plants and reproductive material of a registered, deliberately bred variety. Compare UPOV.
Plant Variety Rights (PVR): Governed by the Plant Variety Rights the registration of new varieties is now governed by Plant Breeders Rights.
plastochron: The time between successive leaf initiation events.
pleiochasium: pl. pleiochasia. An inflorescence in which several buds come out at the same time. Compare monochasium and dichasium.
plicate: Pleated; folded back and forth longitudinally like a fan, such as the leaves of fan palm species. The concept often appears in specific names in forms such as Kumara plicatilis and Acacia plicata. Commonly such names are not correctly appropriate, but are applied to distichous structures rather than plicate.
-plinerved: (of leaves) A suffix indicating that the main nerves are lateral and arise from a point distinctly above the base of the leaf. Combined with a numerical prefix to form words like 3-plinerved, 5-plinerved, and so on. Such leaves are especially characteristic of the family Melastomataceae. See for example Dissotis.
plumose: Like a feather; with fine hairs branching from a main axis.
plumule: The part of an embryo that gives rise to the shoot system of a plant. Compare radicle.
pluriflor: Having many flowers per inflorescence. See also pauciflor and uniflor.
pluriovulate: Having many ovules as in placentae, carpels, or ovaries.
pneumatophore: A vertical appendage, aerial at low tide, on the roots of some plants. Pneumatophore functions are unclear, but possibly related to gas exchange, or to root anchoring. Pneumatophores typically occur on mangrove roots, but some versions occur on species of conifers, such as some in the Taxodioideae.
pod: 1. A legume, the fruit of a leguminous plant, a dry fruit of a single carpel, splitting along two sutures.; 2. A siliqua and silicula, the fruit of Brassicaceae, a dry fruit composed of two carpels separated by a partition.
podocarpium: In four genera of the coniferous family Podocarpaceae (Acmopyle, Dacrycarpus, Falcatifolium, and Podocarpus), a group of fleshy fused bracts beneath the female cone, often brightly-colored, which swell to enclose the developing seeds above and attract fruit-eating animals.^[48]
pollen: pollen-grains, the microspores of seed plants from anthers of angiosperms or the microsporangia (of gymnosperms); .
pollen-mass: Sometimes = pollinium, but more loosely, any mass of pollen a plant produces, such as around the spadix and within the spathe of some Araceae.
pollen transmitting tissue: the tissue in the style of a flower through which the pollen tubes grow.
pollinarium: See pollinium. Variously applied to structures of two or more pollinia connected or joined together. Pollinaria occur in various plant taxa, notably Orchidaceae and Asclepiadoideae
pollination: The transfer of pollen from a male organ (such as an anther) to the receptive region of a female organ (such as a stigma).
pollinium: A structure of coherent pollen-grains from a single anther; pollinia commonly occur in e.g. orchids and Asclepiadoideae as woolly, sticky or waxy masses, adapted to being stuck to appropriate pollinators and carried away to another flower of the same species. Such flowers typically are adapted to stripping incoming pollinia from carrier insects, thereby avoiding pollen from unrelated species.
polygamodioecious: Having bisexual and male flowers on some plants and bisexual and female flowers on others. Compare androdioecious, andromonoecious, dioecious, monoecious, polygamomonoecious, and polygamous.
polygamomonoecious: having male, female, and bisexual flowers on the same plant. Compare androdioecious, andromonoecious, polygamodioecious, and polygamous.
polygamous: having bisexual and unisexual flowers on the same plant.
polymorphic: Of several different kinds (in respect to shape and/or size), hence polymorphism. See also monomorphic (a single type) and dimorphic (two types)
polyphyllous: having many leaves or perianth segments. Compare symphyllous, gamophyllous, and apophyllous.
polyploid: with more than two of the basic sets of chromosomes in the nucleus; any sporophyte with cells containing three or more complete sets of chromosomes. Various combinations of words or numbers with '-ploid' indicate the number of haploid sets of chromosomes, e.g. triploid = 3 sets, tetraploid = 4 sets, pentaploid = 5 sets, hexaploid = 6 sets, and so on.
polystemonous: having numerous stamens; the number of stamens being at least twice the number of sepals or petals, but not strictly three or four times that number.
pome: A fruit that has developed partly from the ovary wall but mostly from the hypanthium (e.g. an apple).
population: 1. All individuals of one or more species within a prescribed area.; 2. A group of organisms of one species, occupying a defined area and usually isolated to some degree from other similar groups.; 3. In statistics, the whole group of items or individuals under investigation.
poricidal: Opening by pores, as with the capsule of a poppy or the anthers in several families of plants. Compare longicidal.
posterior: Positioned behind or toward the rear. Contrast anterior.
prickle: A hard, pointed outgrowth from the surface of a plant (involving several layers of cells but not containing a vein); a sharp outgrowth from the bark, detachable without tearing wood. Compare thorn.
primary vein: The single vein or array of veins that is conspicuously larger than any others in a leaf. In pinnate venation, the single primary vein can generally be found in the middle of the leaf; in palmate venation, several such veins radiate from a point at or near the base of the leaf.
procumbent: Spreading along the ground but not rooting at the nodes; not as close to the ground as prostrate.
propagule: Any structure capable of generating a new plant; includes seeds, spores, bulbils, etc.
pro parte: In part. In nomenclature, used to denote that the preceding taxon includes more than one currently recognized entity, and that only one of those entities is being considered.
prophyll: A leaf formed at the base of a shoot, usually smaller than those formed later.
prostrate: Lying flat on the ground; commonly rooting at nodes that touch the soil surface.
protandrous: Having male sex organs which mature before the female ones, e.g. a flower shedding pollen before the stigma is receptive. Compare protogynous.
proteranthous: With new leaves appearing before flowers. See also hysteranthous and synanthous.
prothallus: A gametophyte plant, usually flattened and delicate, e.g. in ferns and fern allies.
protogynous: Having female sex organs which mature before the male ones, e.g. a flower shedding pollen after the stigma has ceased to be receptive. Compare protandrous.
proximal: Near the point of origin or attachment. Compare distal.
pruinose: Covered with a powdery, waxy material; having a bloom.
pseudanthium: A type of inflorescence occurring in the Asteraceae and Euphorbiaceae, in which multiple flowers are grouped together to form a flower-like structure, commonly called a head or capitulum.
pseudo-: A prefix meaning "false, not genuine", e.g. a pseudo-bulb is a thickened, bulb-like internode in orchids, but not an actual bulb.
pseudobasifixed: (of an anther) Connected to the filament of the stamen by connective tissue which extends in a tube around the filament tip. See also basifixed and dorsifixed.
pseudostipule: An enlarged, persistent axillary bud scale that resembles a stipule; common in Bignoniaceae.
pseudoverticillate: Having the appearance of being whorled (verticillate), without actually being so.
puberulous: Covered with minute soft erect hairs.
pubescent: Downy; covered with short, soft hairs, especially erect hairs.
pulverulent: Having powdery or crumbly particles as if pulverized.
pulvinate: Having a pulvinus.
pulvinus: a swelling at either end of a petiole of a leaf or petiolule of a leaflet, e.g. in Fabaceae, that permits leaf movement.
punctate: (from Latin puncta= puncture or prick-mark) marked with an indefinite number of dots, or with similarly small items such as translucent glands or tiny hollows.
punctiform: Dot-like or in the shape of a prick-mark.
pungent: Having a sharp, hard point.
pustule: A blister-like swelling.
pustulate: Having pustules.
pyramidal: (of a growth habit) Shaped like an Egyptian pyramid, broad conic with a quadrate cross-section. Not found in nature, in living things only seen in deliberately shaped topiary, but the term is frequently misapplied to conical trees, especially in popular literature.^[49]^[30]
pyrene: The stone of a drupe, consisting of the seed surrounded by the hardened endocarp.
pyriform: Pear-shaped; a term for solid shapes that are roughly conical in shape, broadest one end and narrowest at the other. As a rule the distal third of their length is the broadest, and they are narrowest near the proximal end, the base, where the stalk, if any, attaches.
pyrophile: Plants which need fire for their reproduction.
pyrophyte: Plants which have adapted to tolerate fire.

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