# Manual of the New Zealand Flora/Glossary

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IV. GLOSSARY.
Aberrant. Deviating from the established rule or type.
Abnormal. Contrary to rule; deviating from the usual structure.
Abortion. Suppression or imperfect development of any part.
Abortive. Imperfectly developed, as in the case of stamens which do not bear anthers.
Abrupt. Terminating suddenly as if the end were cut or broken off.
Abruptly acuminate. Ending in a point arising from a broad extremity.
Abruptly pinnate. Applied to a pinnate leaf when it ends with a pair of leaflets.
Acaulescent. Stemless, or without a conspicuous stem.
Accrescent. Enlarging in size with age, as the calyx of some plants after the flowering period.
Accumbent. Lying against another body; applied to cotyledons when their edges are placed against or pointing towards the radicle.
Acerose. Needle-shaped; as the leaves of true pines.
Achene. a small hard and dry indehiscent 1-celled and 1-seeded fruit.
Achlamydeous. Having neither calyx nor corolla; destitute of perianth.
Acicular. Needle- or bristle-shaped; rather more slender than acerose.
Acinaciform. Scimitar-shaped.
Acotyledon. A plant destitute of cotyledons or seed-lobes; Cryptogams.
Aculeate. Furnished with prickles or sharp points, as the stem of a rose.
Acuminate. Tapering to a gradually diminishing point.
Acute. Sharply pointed but not drawn out; also applied to any organ having a sharp edge or margin.
Adherent. Union of dissimilar parts, as when the calyx-tube is joined to the ovary.
Adnate. Attached by the whole length; as when anthers have their lobes attached along their whole length to the filament, or when stipules adhere by their whole length to the petiole.
Adpressed. See Appressed.
Adventitious. Of accidental or abnormal occurrence, as when roots are produced from the stem or branches.
Æstivation. The manner in which the parts of a flower are arranged or folded while in bud.
Afoliate. Having no leaves.
Aggregated. Crowded together, but not actually coherent.
Alate. Winged, or having expansions like wings; as sometimes on a stem or petiole, or on the fruit or seeds.
Albumen. The nutritive matter stored within the seed and usually surrounding the embryo.
Albuminous. Applied to seeds containing albumen.
Alliaceous. Possessing the smell of garlic or onions.
Alpine. Applied to plants peculiar to high altitudes above the limits of forest growth.
Alternate. (1.) Applied to leaves when they follow one another at intervals on opposite sides of the stem; not opposite. (2.) Also used with respect to the different parts of the flower, as when stamens are alternate with petals—that is, intermediate to them, not opposite.
Alveolate. Marked Uke honey-comb; deeply and closely pitted.
Amorphous. Without regular or definite form; shapeless.
​Amphibious. Growing equally well in water or on dry land.
Amphitropal, Amphitropous. Applied to the ovule when it is curved so that both ends are brought near together.
Amplexicaul. Applied to leaves or stipules when the base is dilated and embraces the stem.
Anastomosing. When one vein unites with another, the union forming a reticulation or network.
Anatropal, Anatropous. When the ovule is reversed or bent back so that the micropyle is close to the hilum and the chalaza at the other end.
Andrœcium. The male system of a flower; the stamens collectively.
Androgynous. Having both male and female flowers in the same inflorescence, as in many species of Carex.
Anemophilous. Flowers which are fertilised through the agency of the wind, the pollen being conveyed through the air.
Angiosperms, Angiospermæ. Plants having their ovules enclosed in an ovary.
Annual. Applied to plants which grow up and perish in one season.
Annular. Ring-shaped.
Annulate. Furnished with rings or belts.
Annulus. In ferns, applied to an elastic ring which partially or wholly surrounds the sporangium and ruptures it at maturity.
Anterior. Placed in front, or turned away from the axis.
Anther. That portion of a stamen which contains the pollen.
Antheridium. The male sexual organ in Cryptogams, answering to the anther in Phanerogams.
Antherozoids. Motile cells provided with cilia, produce 1 within an antheridium; also called "spermatozoids."
Anthesis. The period of expansion of a flower.
Anticous. Remote, or turned away from the axis.
Apetalous. Having no corolla or inner perianth.
Apex. The tip or summit of any organ.
Aphyllous. Not possessing leaves.
Apical. At the apex or summit.
Apiculate. Abruptly ending in a short and sharp point.
Apocarpous. Applied to a flower in which the carpels or ovaries are separate.
Appendage. Something added or attached to an organ, but not an essential part of it.
Appendiculate. Furnished with appendages.
Appressed. Lying flat or pressed close for the whole length, as hairs to the surface of a leaf.
Aquatic. Living in water.
Arachnoid. Resembling a spider's web.
Arborescent. Resembling a tree in size and mode of growth.
Archegonium. The female sexual organ in Cryptogams, containing the oosphere, which after fertilisation develops into the sporophyte.
Arcuate. Curved or bent like a bow.
Areole. A small area or space marked out on any surface; a small interstice or cavity; a space in any reticulated surface.
Areolate. Marked with areoles; divided into distinct spaces or meshes.
Areolation. A system of reticulated markings.
Aril, Arillus. An expansion of the funicle, more or less enveloping the seed.
Arillate. Provided with an aril.
Aristate. Awned; provided with a bristle-like point.
Articulated. Jointed; separated into distinct members or joints.
Ascending. Rising somewhat obliquely; not quite erect.
Asperous. Rough; harsh to the touch.
Attenuate. Tapering gradually; drawn out.
Auricle. A small ear-hke lobe or appendage at the base of a leaf.
Auriculate. Provided with auricles.
​Awl-shaped. Shaped like the point of an awl; narrow and tapering to a point.
Awn. A bristle-like terminal or dorsal appendage, especially common on the glumes of grasses.
Awned. Having awns.
Axil, Axilla. The angle contained between the axis and any organ arising from it, as a leaf.
Axile. Belonging to the axis or situated in it, as axile placentation.
Axillary. Growing in an axil.
Axis. The central line of a body in the direction of its length; the stem.
Baccate. Berried; having the form or nature of a berry.
Barb. Hooked hairs.
Barbate. Bearded; provided with long weak hairs arranged in tufts.
Barbed. Furnished with barbs or hooked hairs.
Barbellate. Provided with short stiff hairs.
Bark. The outer covering or integument of the wood exterior to the cambium layer.
Basal. At the base of any organ or part.
Basifixed. Attached by the base or lower end.
Basilar. Basal.
Beak. A prolonged tip.
Beaked. Ending in a beak; often applied to fruits which end in a long point.
Berry. A succulent or pulpy fruit containing many seeds.
Bi- or Bis-. A Latin prefix signifying two or twice—as bibracteate, having two bracts; bidentate, with two teeth.
Biennial. A plant which lives only two years.
Bifarious. Arranged in two opposite rows or ranks; distichous.
Bifid. Two-cleft; divided halfway into two.
Bilabiate. Divided into lips, as is the case with many gamopetalous corollas.
Bilocular. Two-celled.
Binate. Applied to leaves composed of two leaflets at the end of a common petiole, or to a single leaf almost divided into two.
Bipartite. Divided nearly to the base into two parts.
Bipinnate. Twice pinnate; when both the primary and secondary divisions of a leaf are pinnate.
Biserrate. Doubly serrate, as when the serratures themselves are serrate.
Biternate. Twice ternate.
Blade. The expanded portion of a leaf.
Bract. A modified leaf subtending a flower or a cluster of flowers; modified leaves placed in the space between the calyx and the true leaves.
Bracteate. Furnished with bracts.
Bracteole. A secondary bract upon the pedicel of a flower; a small bract.
Bracteolate. Furnished with bracteoles.
Branch. A division of the stem or main axis.
Branchlet. a small branch; the ultimate division of a branch.
Bristle. A stiff hair.
Bristle-pointed. Ending in a stiff, bristle-like hair.
Bud. The early stage of a flower or branch.
Bulb. A rounded subterranean body formed of fleshy scales or coatings; in reality a modified bud which ultimately develops leaves and flowers.
Bulbous. Having bulbs, or possessing the structure of a bulb.
Bullate. Blistered or puckered, as the leaf of Myrtus bullata.
Caducous. Falling away early; not at all persistent.
Cæspitose. Growing in tufts somewhat in the same way as grass.
Calcarate. Provided with a spur.
Callosity. A thickened and hardened swelling on the surface of any organ.
​Callus. (1.) Any abnormally thickened part. (2.) In grasses, applied to a swelling or extension of the flowering glumes at their insertion on the axis or rhachilla of the spikelet.
Calycine. Pertaining to or resembling a calyx.
Calyculate. Having a whorl of bracts outside the true calyx and resembling it.
Calyptrate. Hood-like, or bearing a hood or cap.
Calyx. The outer series of floral envelopes.
Campanulate. Bell-shaped.
Campylotropal, Campylotropous. Applied to an ovule when one end has grown faster than the other, so as to cause the apex (or micropyle) to curve inwards and approach the hilum.
Canaliculate. Having a longitudinal groove or channel.
Capillary. Very slender and hair-like.
Capitate. (1.) Having a rounded head. (2.) Growing in heads, as the flowers of Compositæ.
Capitellate. The diminutive of "capitate."
Capsule. A dry many-seeded seed-vessel, sphtting into valves.
Capsular. Having fruit of the nature of a capsule.
Carina. The name applied to the keel, or the two cohering anterior petals of a papilionaceous flower.
Carinate. Keeled.
Carpel. A simple pistil, or that element of a compound pistil which answers to a single leaf.
Carpophore. A portion of the axis or receptacle elongated between the carpels and protruding beyond them, as in Geranium and many Umbelliferæ.
Cartilaginous. Firm and tough; resembling cartilage.
Caruncle. A wart or prominence near the base or hilum of a seed.
Carunculate. Having a caruncle.
Caryopsis. A small one-celled and one-seeded fruit with a thin, closely adherent pericarp; the fruit of grasses.
Catkin. A deciduous spike consisting of unisexual apetalous flowers.
Caudate. Tailed; drawn out into a tail-like appendage.
Caudex. The axis of a plant, consisting of the stem and root; the stem of a palm or tree-fern.
Caudicle. In orchids, applled to the slender often strap-shaped body connecting the pollen-masses with the rostellum.
Cauline. On or belonging to the stem; frequently applied to leaves growing on the stem, as opposed to those springing from near the root.
Cell. (1.) An independent portion of protoplasm, bounded by a wall of cellulose, and containing a nucleus; the unit of all cellular structure. (2) A cavity or separate enclosure, as of an ovary or anther.
Cellular. Composed of minute cells.
Centrifugal. Applied to an inflorescence which develops from the centre outwards, as the cyme.
Centripetal. Applied to an inflorescence which develops from the margin towards the centre, or from the base towards the summit, as the corymb, raceme, &c.
Cernuous. Nodding, but hardly pendulous.
Channelled. Having a longitudinal groove like a gutter.
Chartaceous. Papery; having the texture of paper.
Chlorophyll. The green colouring matter within the cells of plants.
Ciliate. Having the margin (and sometimes the nerves) fringed with hairs.
Ciliolate. Fringed with minute hairs.
Cinereous. Ashy-grey.
Circinate. Coiled from the tip into a spiral, as the young fronds of ferns.
Circumscissile. Opening by a transverse circular line.
Cirrhate, Cirrhose. Bearing tendrils.
Cladode. A flattened branch simulating a leaf.
​Clavate. Club-shaped; growing gradually thicker towards the top.
Claw. The elongated narrow base of a petal.
Cleistogamic. Producing flowers which never expand, and which are self-fertilised.
Coherent. The union of one part of an organ with other parts of the same organ, as when petals cohere to form a tubular corolla, &c.
Collateral. Placed side by side.
Column. A body formed by the union of the stamens and styles, as in orchids.
Commissure. The face by which two carpels cohere, as in the Umbelliferæ.
Complicate. Folded upon itself.
Compressed. Flattened laterally.
Concave. Hollow, as the inner surface of a saucer.
Conduplicate. Folded together lengthwise.
Confluent. Blended or running together.
Congested. Crowded together.
Conglobate. Collected into a ball or globe.
Conical. Cone-shaped; narrowed to a point from a circular base.
Connate. When related parts are united, either congenitally or by subsequent growth.
Connective. That portion of a stamen which connects the two lobes of an anther.
Connivent. Coming into contact; converging together.
Constricted. Drawn together; contracted.
Contorted. Twisted.
Contracted. Reduced in width or length.
Convex. Having a more or less rounded surface; opposed to "concave."
Convolute. Rolled together or on itself, or when one part is rolled up in another.
Cordate. Heart-shaped; applied to leaves which have the petiole at the broader and notched end.
Coriaceous. Tough, leathery.
Corolla. The inner perianth, consisting of the petals, free or united.
Corolline. (1.) Seated on or belonging to the corolla. (2.) Corolla-like or petaloid.
Corymb. A flat-topped or convex open inflorescence with a short axis, flowering from the margin inwards.
Corymbose. Arranged in corymbs or resembling a corymb.
Costa. A rib; when one only, a midrib or mid-nerve.
Costate. Ribbed; having one or more longitudinal ribs or nerves.
Cotyledon. The first leaves of the embryo—one in monocotyledons, two or rarely more in dicotyledons.
Crenate. Applled to a leaf having its margin cut into rounded notches.
Crenulate. Finely crenate.
Crested. Having an elevated ridge or appendage like the crest of a helmet.
Crisped. Curled; crumpled.
Crustaceous. Hard and brittle in texture.
Cryptogam, Cryptogamous. Plants destitute of stamens, pistils, and true seeds containing an embryo.
Cucullate. Hooded or hood-shaped.
Culm. The hollow jointed stem of grasses.
Cuneate. Wedge-shaped; triangular with the apex downwards.
Cusp. A sharp rigid point.
Cuspidate. Terminating in a cusp.
Cuticle. The outermost skin or epidermis.
Cyathiform. Shaped like a drinking-glass a little widened at the top.
Cyme. A broad and rather flat open inflorescence, flowering from the centre outwards.
​Decandrous. Having ten stamens.
Deciduous. Falling off after a time; not persistent.
Declinate. Bent or curved downwards.
Decompound. Repeatedly compound or divided.
Decumbent. Reclining or horizontal at the base, but ascending at the summit.
Decurrent. Running downwards; apphed to a leaf prolonged below its point of insertion.
Decussate. In pairs crossing alternately at right angles, as the leaves in many species of Veronica.
Definite. (1.) Of a constant number, not exceeding twenty. (2.) Limited or determinate, as definite inflorescence, where the axis ends in a flower.
Deflexed. Bent abruptly downwards.
Dehiscence. The manner in which a fruit-capsule or anther-cell opens at maturity.
Dehiscent. Opening or splitting into definite parts.
Deltoid. Shaped like the Greek letter Δ; broadly triangular.
Dendroid. Resembllng a tree in shape or mode of branching.
Dentate. Toothed; possessing regular teeth pointing straight outwards.
Denticulate. Finely toothed.
Depauperate. Reduced in size, as if starved or impoverished.
Dependent. Hanging down.
Depressed. Flattened from above.
Dextrorse. Towards the right hand.
Diadelphous. Having the stamens united in two bundles.
Diandrous. Possessing two stamens.
Diaphanous. Allowing light to pass through; pellucid.
Dichlamydeous. Applied to those plants whose flowers have a double perianth, or both calyx and corolla.
Dichotomous. Repeatedly forked by pairs.
Dicotyledons. Those plants whose embryo possesses two cotyledons or seed-lobes.
Didymous. In pairs or deeply divided into two lobes.
Didynamous. Having four stamens placed in pairs, two long and two short.
Diffuse. Loosely or widely spreading.
Digitate. Fingered; applied to a compound leaf in which the leaflets spread from the top of the petiole.
Dilated. Widened; expanded.
Dimidiate. Halved; as when half of a leaf is so much smaller than the other as to appear wanting.
Dimorphic, Dimorphous. Occurring in two forms.
Diœcious. Unisexual; having the male and female flowers on different plants.
Dipetalous. Having two petals.
Diphyllous. Possessing two leaves.
Disc. (1.) A dilation or development of the receptacle within the calyx or within the corolla and stamens. (2.) The central portion of the flower-head of a Composite, as opposed to the ray. (3) The face of any organ, in contradistinction to the margin.
Disciform. Having the shape of a disc—circular and depressed.
Discoidal. Same as "disciform."
Dissected. Deeply divided or cut into many segments.
Dissepiment. The partitions separating the cells of an ovary or fruit.
Distichous. Arranged in two vertical rows or ranks, as the florets of many grasses.
Distinct. Separate; not united.
Divaricate. Widely spreading.
Divergent. Spreading further apart; the opposite of "convergent."
Divided. Cleft almost to the base.
Dorsal. On or relating to the back of any organ.
​Dorsifixed. Attached by or on the back.
Dotted. Marked with transparent receptacles of oil, looking like dots.
Drupaceous. Resembling or of the nature of a drupe.
Drupe. A fleshy or succulent fruit, such as the plum, which has the seed enclosed, in a hard and bony putamen or casing; often called a "stone-fruit."
Ebracteate. Having no bracts.
Echinate. Beset with prickles, like the capsule of Entelea.
Ecostate. Having no ribs.
Edentate. Having no teeth.
Effuse. Loosely spreading.
Eglandular. Without glands.
Ellipsoidal. A solid with an elliptical outline.
Elliptical. Having the form of an ellipse—oblong with regularly rounded ends.
Elongated. Drawn out in length.
Emarginate. Having a notch at the end, as if a piece had been taken out.
Embryo. The rudimentary plant formed within the seed.
Endemic. Confined to a particular country or region.
Endocarp. The inner layer of the pericarp, lying next the seed.
Endosperm. The albumen or nutritive matter of a seed, usually surrounding, the embryo.
Ensiform. Sword-shaped, like the leaf of an Iris.
Entire. Having an even margin, without toothing or division of any kind.
Ephemeral. Lasting for a day, or for a very short time.
Epicarp. The external layer of a pericarp.
Epicorolline. Inserted upon the corolla.
Epidermis. The outer cellular skin or covering of a plant.
Epidermal. On or relating to the outer covering.
Epigynous. At or upon the top of the ovary.
Epipetalous. Inserted upon the petals.
Epiphyte. A plant which grows upon other plants, but not as a parasite.
Equitant. Folded over as if astride, like the basal part of the leaves of Phormium.
Erect. Upright; perpendicular to the ground or point of attachment.
Erecto-patent. Intermediate between erect and spreading.
Erose. Toothed in an irregular manner, as if gnawed.
Erostate. Having no beak.
Even. Without inequalities of surface.
Exalbuminous. Having no albumen; applied to those seeds where the embryo occupies the whole space within the testa.
Excurrent. When the vein of a leaf runs through to the apex and protrudes beyond it as a mucro.
Exotic. Foreign; not native.
Expanded. Spread out.
Exserted. Protruding beyond, as stamens beyond the corolla.
Exstipulate. Wanting stipules.
Extrorse. Directed outwards; often applied to the dehiscence of anthers.
Falcate. Sickle-shaped; strongly curved.
Farinaceous. Mealy; containing or having the texture of flour or starch, as the albumen of wheat.
Farinose. Covered with a white mealy substance.
Fascicle. A small bundle or close cluster.
Fascicled. Arranged in a fascicle.
Fastigiate. Applied to a plant when the branches are close together, parallel, and erect, as in the Lombardy Poplar.
​Feathery. Plumose; having long hairs which are themselves hairy, as the pappus of Taraxacum.
Fenestrate. Pierced with holes, like windows in a wall.
Ferruginous. Rust-coloured.
Fertile. Capable of producing fruit; also applied to stamens which produce pollen capable of fertilising ovules.
Fibrous. Containing a great proportion of woody fibre.
Filament. (1.) The stalk or support of an anther. (2.) Any thread-like body.
Filamentous. Composed of threads or filaments.
Filiform. Thread-shaped.
Fimbriate. Having the margin fringed with narrow processes.
Fistular, Fistulose. Hollow and cylindrical; reed-like.
Flabellate, Flabelliform. Fan-shaped.
Flaccid. Flabby; limp.
Flagelliform. Long and slender, like a whip-lash.
Flexuose. Bent or curved alternately in opposite directions.
Floccose. Bearing tufts or locks of woolly hairs.
Floret. A small fiower, one of a cluster or head.
Floriferous. Flower-bearing.
Fœtid. Having a strong and disagreeable smell.
Foliaceous. Having the texture or form of a leaf.
Foliate. Leafy; clothed with leaves.
Foliolate. Having leaflets.
Follicle. A fruit consisting of a single carpel, dehiscing by the ventral suture.
Follicular. Resembling a follicle.
Food-stalk. A petiole, pedicel, or other slender support.
Forked. Branching into two divergent divisions.
Foveate. Pitted: marked with depressions.
Frond. The foliage of ferns and other Cryptogams.
Fructification. Fruiting; the organs concerned in the production of fruit.
Fruticose. Shrubby.
Fugacious. Soon falling off or perishing: of short duration.
Fulvous. Tawny; dull-yellow with a mixture of gray or brown.
Funicle. The stalk connecting the ovule or seed with the placenta.
Furcate. Forked; having divergent branches like the prongs of a fork.
Furfuraceous. Scurfy; provided with soft scales.
Fusiform. Thick, but tapering towards each end; spindle-shaped.
Galea. A petal shaped like a helmet.
Gamopetalous. Applied to a corolla in which the petals are more or less united.
Gamosepalous. Having the sepals more or less united.
Geminate. Arranged in pairs; binate.
Generic. Relating to the genus.
Geniculate. Bent like the knee.
Genus. A clearly defined group of naturally allied species.
Gibbous. Protuberant; swelling out into a pouch or sac.
Glabrous. Having no hairs or pubescence; smooth.
Glabrate. Becoming glabrous.
Glabrescent. Almost glabrous.
Gladiate. Sword-shaped; ensiform.
Gland. Any secreting structure, whether depressed or prominent, on any part of a plant.
Glandular. Possessing glands; gland-like.
Glaucescent. Becoming glaucous or sea-green.
Glaucous. Of a sea-green colour.
Globose, Globular. Spherical or nearly so.
Glochidiate. Applied to hairs that are barbed at the end.
​Glomerate. Arranged in compact clusters.
Glomerule. a compact and somewhat capitate cluster of flowers; a small and densely compacted cyme.
Glumaceous. Resembling the glumes of grasses.
Glume. The term applied to the chaff-like and usually distichous bracts of the inflorescence of grasses and allied plants.
Glutinous. Covered with a sticky secretion.
Grain. The fruit of grasses; a caryopsis.
Granular, Granulose. Composed of small grains or rough with small grains.
Gymnosperms. Plants in which the ovule is not enclosed in an ovary, as in the Coniferæ.
Gynæceum. The pistil or pistils of a flower; the female portion of a flower.
Gynandrous. Having the stamens adnate to the pistil, as in Orchids.
Gynophore. The stalk or support of the ovary.
Gyrate. Curved into a circle or spiral; circinate.
Habit. The general appearance of a plant.
Habitat. (1.) The kind of locality in which a plant grows. (2.) The geographical distribution or range of a plant.
Hair. A slender outgrowth of the epidermis, either composed of a single elongated cell or of a row of cells.
Hairy. More or less covered with hairs.
Halophyte. A plant growing within the influence of salt water.
Hastate. Halbert-shaped; applied to an arrow-shaped leaf with the basal lobes pointing straight outwards.
Helicoid. Coiled into a circle like the whorls of a small shell.
Herb. A plant that has no persistent woody stem.
Herbaceous. Having the character of a herb; not woody or shrubby.
Hermaphrodite. Having stamens and pistils in the same flower.
Heterogamous. Bearing two kinds of flowers, as in the Compositæ, where the florets of the disc may be hermaphrodite and those of the ray unisexual or neuter.
Heterogeneous. Dissimilar; not uniform in kind.
Heteromorphous. Of two or more different forms.
Heterophyllous. Having leaves of different forms.
Heterosporous. Having spores of more than one kind.
Hilum. The scar or place of attachment of the seed.
Hirsute. Hairy with long tolerably distinct hairs.
Hispid. Beset with rough hairs or bristles.
Hispidulous. Minutely hispid. Hoary. Greyish-white with a fine pubescence.
Homogamous. Having only one kind of flowers; applied to the flower-heads of Compositæ when the florets are all alike.
Homogeneous. Alike, uniform in kind; the opposite of "heterogeneous."
Hyaline. Translucent; colourless.
Hybrid. A cross between two species, obtained when the pollen of one species is placed upon the stigma of the other.
Hypocrateriform. Applied to a corolla which has a long and slender tube and flat spreading limb, like the Primrose.
Imbricate, Imbricated. Overlapping, as the tiles on a roof; or, in æstivation, overlapping at the edge only.
Immarginate. Not margined or bordered.
Imparipinnate. Pinnate with an odd terminal leaflet.
Incised. Having the margin sharply and irregularly cut.
Included. Not projecting beyond the surrounding organ; the opposite of "exserted."
​Incomplete. Not perfect; wanting some of its parts.
Incrassate. Thickened.
Incumbent. Resting or leaning upon; applied to the embryo when the radicle is folded down upon the back of the cotyledons.
Incurved. Bent inwards. Indefinite. (1.) Variable in number or very numerous, not easily counted. (2.) An inflorescence not definitely terminated, but continuous with the axis, the lower or marginal flowers being the first to open.
Indehiscent. Not opening regularly by valves or otherwise.
Indigenous. Native to the country; not introduced.
Indumentum. Any covering, such as hairiness, &c.
Induplicate. Having the margins folded inwards.
Indurated. Hardened.
Indusium. (1.) In ferns, an outgrowth of the epidermis covering the sorus. (2.) A cup-shaped membrane or ring of collecting hairs below the stigma, usually well developed in the Goodeniaceæ.
Indusiate. Possessing an indusium.
Inferior. Growing below some other organ, as an inferior calyx grows below the ovary, or an inferior ovary appears to grow below the adnate calyx.
Inflated. Swollen; bladdery.
Inflexed. Bent abruptly inwards.
Inflorescence. (1.) The flowering portion of a plant. (2.) The manner in which the flowers are arranged on the floral axis.
Infundibuliform. Funnel-shaped.
Innate. Borne on the apex of a support, as an anther fixed on the apex of a filament.
Inserted. Attached to or growing upon.
Insertion. The place or mode of attachment of an organ.
Internode. That part of a stem between the nodes.
Interpetiolar. Between the petioles; also applied to the coalesced stipules of two opposite leaves.
Introrse. Turned towards the axis; often applied to anthers which open towards the centre of the flower.
Involucel. An inner or secondary involucre; that which surrounds a secondary or partial umbel.
Involucellate. Having a secondary involucre.
Involucrate. Having an involucre.
Involucre. A ring of bracts surrounding several flowers, as in the heads of Compositæ or the umbels of Umbelliferæ; also sometimes apphed to the indusium of ferns.
Involute. Having the margins rolled inwards.
Irregular. Not regular; unsymmetrical.
Isomerous. Equal in number; applied to flowers having an equal number of parts in the successive whorls, as of sepals, petals, stamens, &c.
Keel. (1.) A central dorsal ridge resembling the keel of a boat. (2.) The two cohering anterior petals of a papilionaceous flower.
Labellum. The third petal of an orchid, by a twist of the ovary placed in front of the flower, and usually very different in form from the remainder.
Labiate. Lipped; applied to an irregular calyx or corolla which is unequally divided into two parts or lips.
Lacerate. Irregularly torn or cleft.
Laciniate. Cut into narrow slender teeth or lobes.
Lactescent. Yielding milky juice.
Lacunose. When the surface is covered with depressions or perforated with holes.
Lacustrine. Inhabiting lakes or ponds.
​Lamella. A thin plate or scale.
Lamellar, Lamellate. Composed of thin plates, or furnished with them.
Lamina. The blade or dilated portion of a leaf.
Lanate. Clothed with woolly hairs.
Lanceolate. Shaped Uke a lance-head; tapering upwards from a narrow ovate base.
Lanuginous. Clothed with long woolly or cottony hairs.
Lateral. At the side; fixed on or near the side.
Lax. Loose, distant.
Legume. The seed-vessel of Leguminosæ; a one-celled and two-valved capsule, of very various form.
Leguminous. Pertaining to or bearing legumes; belonging to the order Leguminosæ.
Lenticel. Lenticular corky spots on young bark, corresponding to epidermal stomata.
Lenticular. Lens-shaped.
Lentiginous. Covered with minute dots or freckles.
Lepidote. Covered with small scurfy scales.
Ligule. (1.) A strap-shaped body, as the limb of the corolla in the florets of Compositæ. (2.) The thin scarious appendage at the junction of the leaf-blade with the sheath in grasses.
Ligulate. Furnished with a ligule; strap-shaped.
Limb. (1.) The expanded and usually spreading part of a gamopetalous corolla, as distinct from the tube. (2.) The lamina of a petal or leaf.
Linear. Narrow and elongated, with parallel margins.
Lineate. Marked with lines.
Lineolate. Marked with fine lines.
Linguiform, Lingulate. Tongue-shaped.
Lip. (1.) Either of the two divisions of a bilabiate corolla or calyx. (2.) The labellum of orchids.
Littoral. Growing near the sea-shore.
Lobe. Any division of a leaf, corolla, &c., especially if rounded.
Lobe, Lobate. Divided into or bearing lobes.
Lobule. A small lobe.
Lobulate. Having small lobes.
Locellate. Divided into secondary cells or compartments.
Loculicidal. When the cells of a capsule open along the back between the septa, or by the dorsal suture.
Lodicule. A name apphed to the minute hyaline scales just outside the stamens in the flowers of grasses.
Lorate. Strap-shaped; thong-shaped.
Lucid. Having a shining surface.
Lunate. Half-moon shaped.
Lurid. Of a dingy brown or yellow.
Lutescent. Yellowish.
Lyrate. Lyre-shaped; pinnatifid with the terminal lobe large and rounded, the lower lobes small.
Macrosporangium. A sporangium containing macrospores.
Macrospore. The larger kind of spore in vascular cryptogams.
Maculate. Spotted or blotched.
Male. A plant or flower which possesses stamens.
Mammilla. A nipple or teat-shaped projection.
Mammillate. Having nipple-shaped projections.
Marcescent. Withering and persistent.
Marginal. Placed upon or belonging to the edge or margin.
Marginate, Margined. Furnished with an edge or border of a different character to the rest of the organ.
​Maritime. Belonging to the sea or the neighbourhood of the sea.
Massula. A group of microspores contained in a special envelope, as in Azolla.
Membranous, Membranaceous. Thin, soft, and translucent, like a membrane.
Mericarp. A name applied to one of the two carpels composing the fruit of Umbelliferæ.
Mesocarp. The middle layer of a fruit or pericarp.
Micropyle. The opening or mark in the integument of a seed indicating the position of the foramen of the ovule.
Microspore. The smaller kind of spore in vascular cryptogams.
Midrib. The central and principal nerve of a leaf.
Monadelphous. Having the stamens all united by their filaments into a column or tube.
Monandrous. Having a single stamen.
Moniliform. Resembllng a necklace or string of beads; constricted at regular intervals.
Monochlamydeous. Applied to those plants whose flowers have only a single perianth.
Monocotyledons. Those plants whose embryo has but one cotyledon or seed-lobe.
Monœcious. Having the stamens and pistils in separate flowers, but borne on the same plant.
Monopetalous. Gamopetalous; having all the petals united by their edges.
Monophyllous. (1.) One-leaved, as an involucre composed of a single piece. (2.) Equivalent to "gamosepalous" or "gamopetalous."
Monotypic. Applied to a genus with but one species.
Mucilaginous. Composed of mucilage; sllmy.
Mucro. A sharp terminal point.
Mucronate. Possessing a short and sharp terminal point.
Mucronulate. Ending in a diminutive mucro.
Multifarious. Arranged in many vertical rows or ranks.
Multifid. Cleft into many lobes or segments.
Muricate, Muricated. Rough with short hard points.
Muriculate. Diminutive of "muricate"; minutely muricate.
Muticous. Blunt; without a point.
Naked. Bare; without its usual covering or appendages, as a stem without leaves, a flower without perianth.
Navicular. Boat-shaped.
Nectar. The sweet secretion within a flower; honey.
Nectariferous. Honey-bearing.
Nerve. A simple or unbranched vein or slender rib.
Nerved. Having nerves or slender ribs.
Netted. Reticulated; net-veined.
Node. That part of a stem or branch from which leaves or branches are given off; the knots in the stems of grasses.
Nodose. Knotty or knobby; usually apphed to roots.
Nut. A hard indehiscent one-celled fruit.
Nutlet. A small nut; sometimes applied to the hard seed-like divisions of the fruit of Labiatæ.
Obconic. Shaped like an inverted cone.
Obcordate. Inversely heart-shaped, the notch being uppermost.
Oblique. (1.) Unequal-sided. (2.) Slanting; turned to one side.
Oblong. Considerably longer than broad, with parallel sides and rounded ends.
Obovate. Inversely ovate, the broadest part towards the apex.
Obovoid. A solid with an obovate outline.
Obsolete. Wanting or imperfectly developed.
​Obtuse. Blunt or rounded at the end.
Ocellate, Oculate. Having circular patches of colour like eyes.
Ochraceous. Ochre-colour; light-yellow with a tinge of red.
Ochreate, Ocreate. Provided with an ochrea, a tubular stipule sheathing the stem, as in many Polygonaceæ.
Oligandrous. Having few stamens.
Opposite. Standing against or facing each other, as leaves when two spring from the same node, or when a stamen stands in front of a petal.
Orbicular. Applied to a leaf or other body having a circular outline.
Order. A group of plants above the genus in rank, and containing several or many closely allied genera.
Organ. Any definite part of a plant, as a cell, a leaf, a flower, &c.
Orthotropous, Orthotropal. Applied to an ovule with a straight axis, the chalaza being at the point of insertion, and the micropyle at the opposite end.
Osseous. Bony.
Ovary. The lower swollen part of the pistil, containing the ovules.
Ovate. Shaped like the longitudinal section of an egg, the broadest part being towards the base.
Ovoid. A solid with the shape of an egg.
Ovulate. Possessing ovules.
Ovule. The young seed in the ovary; an organ which after fertilisation developes into the seed.
Ovuliferous. Bearing ovules.
Palate. A projection within the throat of an irregular gamopetalous corolla; the prominent lower hp of a bilabiate corolla.
Palea. (1.) The innermost bract or glume in grasses. (2.) The chaffy scales mixed with the florets on the receptacle of many Compositæ.
Paleaceous. Chaffy or furnished with chaff-like scales.
Palmate. Lobed or divided so that the divisions radiate from the summit of the petiole.
Palmatifid. Cut in a palmate manner almost as far as the petiole.
Panduriform. Fiddle-shaped.
Panicle. A loose irregularly branched inflorescence usually containing many flowers; a branched raceme or corymb.
Panicled, Paniculate. After the manner of a panicle; bearing a panicle.
Papilionaceous. Butterfly-like; applled to the irregular pea-like flowers characteristic of the suborder Papilionaceæ of the Leguminosæ
Papilla. A soft superficial gland or protuberance.
Papillose. Covered with papillæ.
Pappiform. Resembling pappus.
Pappus. The hairs, bristles, or scales crowning the achene in Compositæ, representing the calyx-limb.
Papyraceous. Having the texture of paper.
Parasite. A plant growing upon another plant and deriving nourishment from it.
Parasitic. Growing as a parasite.
Parietal. Borne on the walls or interior surface of an ovary; attached to the wall of any organ.
Partite. Cleft almost to the base.
Partial. A secondary division, as a partial umbel; opposed to "primary" or "general."
Partition. An inner wall or dissepiment.
Patent. Widely spreading.
Patulous. Slightly spreading.
Pectinate. Applied to a pinnatifid leaf with very narrow segments like the teeth of a comb.
​Pedate. Palmately divided with the lateral divisions again two-cleft.
Pedicel. The stalk supporting a single flower in a compound inflorescence.
Pedicellate. Borne on a pedicel.
Peduncle. A general or primary flower-stalk, bearing one or many flowers.
Pedunculate. Furnished with a peduncle.
Peltate. Shield-shaped; flat and attached to its support by the centre of the lower surface.
Pencilled. Marked with fine lines.
Pendulous. Hanging downwards.
Penicillate. Divided into a brush of fine hairs.
Perennial. A plant that lives for several years.
Perfect. Applied to flowers that have both stamens and pistil.
Perfoliate. Applied to leaves the base of which closes round the stem, which thus appears to pass through the leaf.
Perianth. The floral envelopes, either the calyx or corolla, or both.
Pericarp. The seed-vessel or ripened ovary.
Perigynium. The flask-shaped utricle of Carex and Uncinia', including the true fruit.
Perigynous. Inserted round the ovary, but more or less adnate to the perianth.
Persistent. Not falllng off; remaining attached to its support.
Personate. Applied to a bilabiate corolla having a prominent palate almost or entirely closing the throat.
Petal. One of the separate parts of a polypetalous corolla.
Petaloid. Having the colour and texture of a petal.
Petiolate. Possessing a petiole or footstalk.
Petiole. The foot-stalk of a leaf.
Petiolule. The foot-stalk or petiole of a leaflet, or separate division ot a compound leaf.
Phænogam, Phanerogam. Applied to plants bearing manifest flowers, containing stamens or pistils, or both.
Phyllode. Applied to a petiole when it assumes the shape and functions of a leaf, as in many Australian species of Acacia.
Phyllotaxis. The mode in which leaves are arranged on the stems or branches.
Piliferous. Bearing hairs or tipped with hairs.
Pilose. Furnished with rather long and soft distinct hairs.
Pinna. One of the primary divisions of a pinnate or compound leaf.
Pinnate. Applied to a compound leaf which has its leaflets arranged along both sides of a common rhachis or midrib.
Pinnately. In a pinnate manner.
Pinnatifid. Pinnately cleft; applied to a leaf which is divided half-way to the midrib or more into lobes or segments placed somewhat similarly to the lateral divisions of a feather.
Pinnatisect. Pinnately divided down to the midrib or rhachis.
Pinnule. A secondary pinna—that is, one of the pinnate or ultimate divisions of a pinna.
Pisiform. Resembling a pea in size and shape.
Pistil. The female organ of flowering plants, consisting, when complete, of ovary, style, and stigma.
Pistillate. Applied to flowers having a pistil but no stamens; a female flower.
Pitted. Marked with small depressions or pits; punctate.
Placenta. That part of the ovary which bears the ovules or young seeds, often consisting of the margins of the carpellary leaves.
Plane. Having a flat surface.
Plano-convex. Plane or flat on one side and convex on the other.
Plicate. Folded lengthwise into plaits like those of a fan.
Plumose. Plume-like; having fine hairs on each side like those of a feather, as in the pappus of some Compositæ.
​Pod. A dry many-seeded dehiscent fruit, usually of cruciferious or leguminous plants.
Pollen. The fine powdering contents of the anther in flowering plants, by whose action when placed on the stigma the fertilisation of the ovules is accomplished.
Pollination. The placing of the pollen on the stigmatic surface of the pistil.
Pollinum. A mass of poolen grains compacted together, as in Orchideæ.
Polyadelphous. Having the stamens arranged in several bundles or sets.
Polyandrous. Applied to flowers which have many stamens in each flower.
Polygamous. Having both perfect and unisexual flowers on the same plant.
Polygonous. Having many angles.
Polymorphous, Polymorphic. Assuming many forms; variable in form or habit.
Polypetalous. Having several distint petals.
Pore. Any small aperture.
Posterior. Next or towards the main axis; opposed to "anterior."
Posticous. On the posterior side; placed next the axis.
Præmorse. Ending abruptly, as if bitten off.
Prickle. A small spine; an outgrown of bark.
Process. Any projecting appendage.
Procumbent. Lying along the ground.
Proliferous. Producing offshoots or buds capable of reproducing the plant.
Prostrate. Lying flat on the ground.
Protandrous, Proterandrous. Applied to flowers in which the anthers mature before the pistil of the same flower.
Proterogynous. Applied to flowers in which the pistil matures before the stamens of the same flower.
Prothallium. In the higher cryptogams, a body produced by the germination of the spore, and bearing the sexual organs.
Pruinose. Covered with a waxy powdery secrection or bloom.
Puberulous. Minutely downy or pubescent.
Pulvinate. Cushion-shaped; growing in thick mats or cushions.
Punctate. Marked with minute dots or depressions, or with internal translucent glands.
Punctiform. Like a point or dot; reduced to a mere point.
Pungent. Terminating in a sharp and rigid point.
Putamen. The hardened endocarp of a drupaceous or stone-fruit.
Pyramidal. Shaped like a pyramid.
Pyrene. A small nutlet; a small stone of a drupe of similar fruit.
Pyriform. Pear-shaped.
Quadrangular. Having four angles or corners.
Quadrate. Square in form.
Quadrifarous. Arranged in four vertical rows or ranks, as the leaves of many species of Veronica.
Raceme. An inflorescence having several pedicellate flowers arranged upon a prolonged axis, the lower flowers opening first.
Racemose. Bearing racemes, or like a raceme.
Radiate. (1) Diverging from or arranged around a common centre. (2) Bearing ray-florets, as in many Compositæ.
Radical. Arising from the root or base of the stem.
Raphe, Rhaphe. The adherent fumicle of an ovule, connecting the hilum with the chalaza.
Ray. (1) One of the branches of an umbel. (2) A term applied to the outer florets in the flower-heads of Compositæ, in those cases where they are distinct from those of the disc or centre.
​Receptacle. (1.) The more or less expanded or produced apex of the peduncle, upon which the floral envelopes, stamens, and pistil are inserted. (2.) The short conical or convex axis bearing the florets in the flower-heads of Compositæ.
Reclinate. With an erect or ascending base, but with the upper portion turned or bent downwards.
Recurved. Curved backwards or downwards.
Reduplicate. Doubled back; in æstivation applied when the margins are valvate and reflexed.
Reflexed. Bent abruptly down or backwards.
Regular. Symmetrical or uniform in shape or structure.
Reniform. Kidney-shaped.
Repand. With the margin slightly sinuate or wavy.
Replum. A frame-like placenta left by the falling of the valves in the dehiscence of the pods of some Cruciferæ and Leguminosæ, &c.; particularly obvious in Carmichælia.
Reticulate. Provided with markings or venation resembling network.
Retrorse. Directed backwards or downwards.
Retuse. Having a rounded apex with a shallow notch at the centre.
Revolute. Having the margins or apex rolled backwards.
Rhachilla. The axis of the spikelet in grasses.
Rhachis. The axis of an inflorescence, or of a compound leaf or frond.
Rhizome. A prostrate or underground rootstock or stem, giving out roots below, the apex progressively sending up leaves or stems, sometimes short and tuberous.
Rhombic. Obliquely four-sided.
Rhomboid, Rhomboidal. Approaching a rhombic outllne; quadrangular with the sides oblique.
Rib. A primary or prominent nerve or vein.
Ribbed. Furnished with prominent ribs.
Rigid. Stiff and inflexible.
Ringent. Gaping; as a labiate corolla with an open throat.
Rostellate. Having a small beak; the diminutive of "rostrate."
Rostellum. A viscid portion of the column in Orchideæ, answering to the abortive anterior lobe of the stigma.
Rostrate. Beaked; gradually narrowed into a rather long slender point.
Rosulate. Collected into a rosette.
Rotate. Wheel-shaped; apphed to a gamopetalous corolla with a short tube and flat spreading limb.
Rudiment. Any imperfectly developed and functionally useless organ.
Rufous. Reddish; pale-red mixed with brown.
Rugose. Wrinkled; covered with wrinkled lines or ridges.
Rugulose. Somewhat wrinkled.
Ruminated. Having the appearance of being chewed, as the albumen of the nutmeg.
Runcinate. Applied to a pinnatifid leaf in which the lobes or segments point towards the base of the leaf.
Saccate. Pouch-shaped; furnished with a sac or pouch-like cavity.
Sagittate. Shaped like the head of an arrow; triangular, with two basal lobes prolonged downwards.
Sarcocarp. The fleshy or succulent part of a drupe or stone-fruit.
Sarmentose. Producing long and flexible twigs or runners.
Scaberulous. Somewhat rough or scabrous.
Scabrid. Slightly rough.
Scabrous. Rough to the touch; furnished with minute points or asperities.
Scale. A name usually applled to variously modified bracts or depauperated leaves, thin and scarious or coriaceous or fleshy, often imbricated.
​Scandent. Climbing.
Scape. A naked peduncle arising from the crown of the root, or from among the radical leaves.
Scapigerous. Bearing scapes.
Scariose, Scarious. Thin dry and membranous, not green.
Scorpioid. Applied to a unilateral circinately coiled inflorescence, unrolllng as the flowers expand.
Scrobiculate. Marked by minute depressions.
Scutellate. Shaped like a small platter.
Secund. Turned or pointing to one side only.
Seed. The ripened ovule, consisting of the embryo and its proper envelopes.
Segment. One of the divisions into which a leaf or other organ may be cleft or divided.
Sepal. A name applied to each of the separate parts or divisions of a calyx.
Sepaloid. Resembling a sepal.
Septate. Divided by partitions or septa.
Septicidal. When the cells of a capsule open through the dissepiments or lines of junction of the carpels.
Septifragal. When the valves of a capsule in dehiscence break away from the dissepiments.
Septum. A partition dividing a cavity.
Sericeous. Silky; clothed witth soft straight appressed hairs.
Serrate. Applled to a leaf having its margin furnished with teeth like those of a saw.
Serratures. Teeth like those of a saw.
Serrulate. Minutely serrate.
Sessile. Sitting directly on the point of support without any intervening footstalk or petiole.
Seta. A bristle of any kind; a stiff hair.
Setaceous. Bristle-like.
Setiform. Having the shape of a bristle.
Setigerous. Bearing bristles or furnished with bristles.
Setose. Beset with bristles.
Setulose. Provided with minute slender bristles.
Sheath. A tubular envelope investing the stem, as the lower part of the leaf in grasses.
Silicule. A short pod or siliqua, not much longer than broad.
Siliqua. The pod-like fruit of the Cruciferæ, having two valves falling away from a frame (replum) on which the seeds are placed.
Simple. Of one piece; not compound.
Sinuate. Having a deep waved margin.
Sinus. An angular or rounded recess or depression separating lobes or segments.
Smooth. (1.) Having an even surface; not rough; opposed to "scabrous." (2.) Glabrous or free from hairs; opposed to "pubescent."
Sorus. A cluster of sporangia in ferns.
Spadix. A spike with a thickened fleshy rhachis and usually enclosed or subtended by a large bract or spathe, as in many Aroids.
Sparse. Thinly scattered.
Spathe. A large often coloured bract enclosing an inflorescence, usually a spadix.
Spathulate. Oblong, with the lower end much drawn out, so as to resemble a druggist's spatula.
Species. A group of all those individuals possessing the same constant and distinctive characters.
Spicate. Like a spike, or arranged in a spike.
Spike. An inflorescence having several or many sessile flowers arranged on a lengthened axis, the lower flowers opening first.
Spikelet. In grasses and sedges, applied to a cluster or small spike of one or more flowers, usually subtended by a pair of glumes.
​Spine. A sharp woody or rigid outgrowth from the stem: a modified branch, leaf, or stipule.
Spinescent. Ending in a spine or sharp point.
Spinose. Furnished with or resembling spines.
Spinulose. Having small spines; the diminutive of "spinose."
Sporangium. In the higher Cryptogams, the case or sac which contains the spores.
Spoke. In Cryptogams, a minute body or cell capable of germination, but not possessing an embryo as in a true seed.
Spur. A slender tubular process from some part of a flower, often containing nectar.
Squamate, Squamose. Furnished with scales; scaly or scale-like.
Squarrose. Rough with spreading projections or processes, as the tips of bracts.
Stamen. The pollen-bearing organ of the flower, consisting of an anther usually borne on a filament or stalk.
Staminiferous. Stamen-bearing.
Staminodium. A sterile or abortive stamen.
Standard. The broad upper petal of a papilionaceous flower.
Stellate. Star-shaped; radiating from a centre like the points of a star.
Stem. The main ascencllng axis of a plant.
Sterile. Barren; applied to flowers wanting a pistil, or to stamens destitute of anthers or pollen.
Stigma. That portion of the pistil wliich receives the pollen, usually situated at the tip of the style.
Stigmatic. Relating to or belonging to the stigma.
Stigmatose. Provided with stigmas.
Stipes. (1.) The petiole or foot-stalk of the frond of a fern. (2.) The stalk or support of the gynæceum or carpel, or other organ.
Stipella. A secondary stipule, sometimes found at the base of the leaflets of compound leaves.
Stipitate. Borne on a stalk or stipes.
Stipulate. Provided with stipules.
Stipule. Appendages of various kinds arising from the base of the petiole of a leaf.
Stolon. A horizontal sucker or runner from the base of a plant, usually rooting at the tip.
Stoloniferous. Sending out stolons.
Striate. Marked with fine longitudinal fines.
Strict. Upright and very straight.
Strigillose. Minutely strigose.
Strigose. Covered with short, straight, stiff, and appressed sharp-pointed hairs.
Strophiolate. Possessing strophioles.
Strophiole. An appendage situated near the hilum of some seeds.
Style. The upper attenuated part of a pistil or carpel, bearing the stigma at its top. It is often very short or wanting.
Styliform. Style-shaped; resembling a narrow cylinder.
Stylopodium. A swollen expansion at the base of the style in the Umbelliferæ.
Subulate. Awl-shaped.
Succulent. Juicy and fleshy.
Suffrutescent, Suffruticose. Slightly or somewhat shrubby; woody at the base.
Sulcate. Grooved or furrowed.
Superior. Growing or placed above. The calyx is said to be superior when it appears to spring from the top of the ovary; on the other hand, the ovary is superior when it is free from the calyx and is consequently placed above it.
Suspended. Hanging directly downwards; hanging from the apex of a cell.
​Suture. A junction or line of union or dehiscence.
Symmetrical. Regular in its shape or in the number of its parts.
Syncarpous. Composed of two or more united carpels.
Synonym. A superseded or disused name.
Tail. A long and slender terminal prolongation.
Teeth. Any small marginal or terminal lobes.
Tendril. A filiform coiled or twining process by which one plant clings to another.
Terete. Cylindrical or nearly so, not angled or grooved.
Ternate. Arranged in threes, as three in a whorl or cluster, or when three leaflets or segments start from the same point.
Testa. The outer coat of the seed.
Tetradynamous. Having four long and two shorter stamens, as in the flowers of Cruciferæ.
Tetragonal, Tetragonous. Having four angles.
Tetramerous. Composed of four parts or members.
Tetrandrous. Having four stamens.
Tetrapterous. Four-winged.
Thalloid. Resembling a thallus.
Thallus. A vegetative body without distinction of stem or leaf.
Throat. The orifice of a gamopetalous corolla or calvx: that portion of the corolla or calyx between the limb and the tube.
Thrysus. A contracted or ovate panicle, broadest about the middle.
Tomentose. Densely covered with matted wool or short hairs.
Tomentum. Densely matted woolly pubescence.
Torose. Cylindrical or nearly so, with constrictions at regular intervals.
Tortuous. Twisted or bent in different directions.
Torulose. The diminutive of "torose."
Torus. The receptacle of a flower; the more or less modified apex of the peduncle, upon which the parts of the flower are inserted.
Trabeculate. Furnished with markings like cross-bars.
Transverse. Lying or placed across in a cross direction.
Triandrous. Having three stamens.
Triangular. Three-angled; having the shape of a triangle.
Trichotomous. Three-forked; branching into three divisions springing from one point.
Trifid. Three-cleft.
Trifoliolate. Having three leaflets.
Trifurcate. Having three forks or branches.
Trigonal, Trigonous. Three-angled, with flat faces.
Trimorphic. Occurring in three forms.
Tripartite. Divided to the base into three parts.
Tripinnate. Thrice pinnate; when the leaflets of a bipinnate leaf are again pinnate.
Tripinnatifid. Thrice pinnatifid.
Triquetrous. Acutely three-angled with the faces concave.
Truncate. Ending abruptly, as if cut off transversely.
Tube. (1.) Any hollow elongated body or part of an organ. (2.) The lower united portion of a gamopetalous corolla or calyx.
Tuber. A short and thick subterranean branch or rhizome, furnished with scattered buds or "eyes," from which new shoots can arise.
Tubercle. A small projection or wart-like excrescence.
Tuberculate. Covered with small warts or excrescences.
Tuberous. Resembling a tuber.
Tubular. Tube-shaped; cylindrical and hollow.
Tumid. Swollen or inflated.
Tunicate. Having several concentric coats or tunics, like an onion.
​Turbinate. Top-shaped.
Turgid. Swollen or distended.
Twining. Climbing by twining or winding round a support.
Type. The ideal representative of a species or other division.
Type-specimen. The original specimen from which a description of a particular species was drawn up.
Typical. That which corresponds with or represents the type.
Umbel. An inflorescence in which several pedicels of about the same length radiate from the top of a common peduncle. An umbel is said to be simple when each of its pedicels or rays ends in a single flower; compound when each ray bears a secondary umbel.
Umbellate. Having the inflorescence arranged in umbels.
Umbellule. A secondary umbel.
Umbilicate. Having a depression in the centre; navel-like.
Umbonate. Bearing a convex projection or boss.
Uncinate. Hooked at the extremity.
Undulate. Wavy; having a waved or sinuous margin.
Unguiculate. Applied to a petal which is narrowed at the base into a claw.
Unilateral. One-sided.
Unilocular. One-celled.
Uniseriate. Arranged in a single horizontal row or series.
Unisexual. Of one sex; applied to flowers having stamens only or pistils only.
Urceolate. Urn-shaped; contracted at the mouth like an urn or pitcher.
Utricle. (1.) A seed-vessel consisting of a thin loose pericarp enclosing a single seed, as in Chenopodium. (2.) A membranous sac enclosing the fruit proper in Carex and Uncinia. (3.) Any bladder- shaped appendage.
Vagina. A sheath, as of a leaf.
Vaginate. Sheathed.
Vallecule. A term applied to the grooves between the ribs of the fruit in Umbelliferæ.
Valvate. (1.) Opening by valves, as in the majority of dehiscent fruits and many anthers. (2.) In æstivation, applied when the parts of a flower-bud meet exactly at their edges without overlapping.
Valve. One of the divisions into which a capsule or other dehiscent fruit separates at maturity; the door-like lid by which many anthers open.
Variegated. Irregularly coloured in patches or blotches.
Variety. A subdivision of a species, differing from the type in certain constant characters of subordinate value.
Vein. A strand of vascular tissue traversing a leaf or any other flat organ.
Veined. Furnished with veins.
Veinless. Destitute of evident veins.
Veinlet. A small vein, or the ultimate branch of a vein.
Venation. The manner in which the veins of leaves are arranged.
Ventral. The anterior or inner face of a carpel, &c.; the opposite of "dorsal."
Ventricose. Swelling or inflated on one side.
Vernicose. Shiny, as if varnished.
Verrucose. Covered with wart-hke projections.
Versatile. Swinging freely on its support, as many anthers on their filaments.
Vertical. Upright; perpendicular to the plane of the horizon.
Verticil. A whorl, or an arrangement of similar bodies, as leaves in a circle about the axis.
Verticillate. Arranged in whorls or verticils.
Vesicle. A small bladder or cavity.
Vexillum. The standard, or large upper petal of a papilionaceous corolla.
​Villose, Villous. Bearing long and soft straightish hairs.
Virgate. Like a wand or rod; slender, straight, and erect.
Viscid. Glutinous or sticky.
Vittæ. The longitudinal oil-tubes in the pericarp of most Umbelliferæ, easily seen when the fruit is cut across.
Vittate. Furnished with vittæ.
Viviparous. Propagating by buds or bulblets instead of seeds, or with the seeds germinating while still attached to the plant.
Whorl. Any arrangement of organs in a circle round an axis; a verticil.
Wing. (1.) Any membranous or thin expansion or appendage attached to an organ. (2.) A lateral petal of a papilionaceous flower.