page_title: Glossary of botanical terms
section_title: B
hierarchical_section_title: Glossary of botanical terms / B
caption_attribution_description: English: Bougainvillea spectabilis bracts
context_page_description: This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary of leaf morphology.
context_section_description: baculiform
  Rod-like; longer than wide. Compare cylindrical.
  barb
  A rear-facing point, as in a fish hook.
  barbed
  Having barbs pointing in one direction.
  barbellate
  Having barbed hairs (barbellae).
  bark
  The protective external layer of tissue on the stems and roots of woody trees and shrubs; includes all of the living and non-living tissue external to the cambium.
  basal
  Situated or attached at the base.
  basifixed
  Something attached by its base, e.g. an anther attached to the filament. Compare dorsifixed.
  basipetal
  Developing sequentially from the apex towards the base (i.e. with the youngest towards the base), e.g. of flowers in an inflorescence. Also, moving from leaves to roots, e.g. of molecular signals in plants.
  bathyphyll
  A specialized leaf produced at the base of a plant, usually when the plant is immature, and which serves to anchor the plant to a substrate; especially notable in the fern Teratophyllum. Contrast acrophyll.
  beak
  A prominent, pointed terminal projection, especially of a carpel or fruit.
  berry
  A type of indehiscent fruit with the seeds immersed in the pulp, e.g. a tomato.
  bi-
  A prefix meaning "two"; e.g. bisulcate, having two sulci or grooves.
  biennial
  A plant which completes its life cycle (i.e. germinates, reproduces, and dies) within two years or growing seasons. Biennial plants usually form a basal rosette of leaves in the first year and then flower and fruit in the second year.
  bifid
  Forked; cut in two for about half its length. Compare trifid.
  bifoliate
  (of a compound leaf) Having precisely two leaflets, usually in a symmetrical pair, e.g. a leaf of Colophospermum mopane. Compare jugate lobed leaf, e.g. most species of Bauhinia.
  bifusiform
  Fusiform with a pinch in the middle.
  bilabiate
  Having two lips, e.g. the form of the petals in many irregular flowers.
  bilateral
  1.  Having two distinguishable sides, such as the two faces of a dorsiventral leaf.
  2.  Arranged on opposite sides, e.g. leaves on a stem; cf. distichous and opposite.
  3.  Bilaterally symmetrical, as in a leaf with a symmetrical outline.
  biloculate
  Having two loculi, e.g. in anthers or ovaries.
  binomial
  Making use of names consisting of two words to form the scientific name (or combination) in a Latin form. For example, where the first is the name of the genus to which the species belongs, and the second is the specific epithet given to that species to distinguish it from others in the same genus.
  binomial nomenclature
  The system of nomenclature in which the scientific name of a species (and not of a taxon at any other rank) is a combination of two names, the first name being the generic name. The second name is referred to botanically as the specific epithet. Note that the two names together (not just the second name) constitute the species name.
  bipinnate
  Doubly pinnate; e.g. a compound leaf with individual leaflets pinnately divided.
  bipinnatisect
  A pinnatisect leaf with deeply dissected segments.
  bisexual
  Bearing both male and female reproductive organs; usually, flowers with both stamens and carpels; synonymous with hermaphrodite, synoecious, and monoclinous. Bisexual flowers occur only on monoecious plants. See also androgynous, monoicous, and plant reproductive morphology.
  bitegmic
  (of an ovule) Covered by two integuments. Contrast unitegmic.
  biternate
  Ternate, with each division divided into three.
  bivalve
  Having two valves or hinged parts. Contrast trivalve.
  blade
  The lamina or flattened part of a leaf, excluding the stalk or petiole.
  bloom
  A fine white or bluish waxy powder occurring on plant parts, usually stems, leaves, and fruits. It is easily removed by rubbing.
  bole
  The trunk of a tree, usually the portion below the lowest branch. Compare canopy.
  bostrychoid
  Arranged on a conical surface (like a snail shell); used to describe inflorescences in which the buds are arranged in an almost helical manner on the outside of a long, tapering, conical rachis.
  bract
  A modified leaf associated with a flower or inflorescence and differing in shape, size, or colour from other leaves (and without an axillary bud).
  bracteate
  Possessin
caption: The large, colourful bracts of Bougainvillea are commonly mistaken for its petals
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