page_title: Glossary of botanical terms
section_title: S
hierarchical_section_title: Glossary of botanical terms / S
caption_attribution_description: English: A single leaf or bract is said to be convolute when its one edge overlaps the opposite edge.
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: saccate
  Pouched or shaped like a sack.
  sagittate
  Shaped like the head of an arrow; narrow and pointed but gradually enlarged at the base into two straight lobes directed downwards; may refer only to the base of a leaf with such lobes. Compare hastate.
  salverform
  Trumpet-shaped; having a long, slender tube and a flat, abruptly expanded limb.
  samara
  A dry, indehiscent fruit with its wall expanded into a wing, e.g. in the genus Acer.
  samphire
  A common name given to various edible coastal plants, such as Salicornia spp. (Amaranthaceae), Crithmum maritimum (Apiaceae) and Limbarda crithmoides (Asteraceae).
  sanguine
  from Latin sanguineus, blood-coloured: crimson; the colour of blood.
  saprophyte
  A plant, or loosely speaking, a fungus or similar organism, deriving its nourishment from decaying organic matter such as dead wood or humus, and usually lacking chlorophyll. Compare parasite, saprotroph and epiphyte.
  saprotroph
  An organism deriving its nourishment from decaying organic matter. Contrast parasite and epiphyte.
  sarment
  A long, slender, prostrate stolon, commonly called a runner.
  sarmentose
  Reproducing by sarments; strawberry plants are the most familiar example.
  saxicolous
  Growing on stone, like some lichens.
  scabrid 
   
  Rough to the touch, with short hard protrusions or hairs.
  scalariform
  Ladder-like in structure or appearance.
  scale
  1.  A reduced or rudimentary leaf, for example around a dormant bud.
  2.  A flattened epidermal outgrowth, such as those commonly found on the leaves and rhizomes of ferns.
  scandent
  Climbing, by whatever means. See also: scandent in Wiktionary.
  scape
   
  A stem-like flowering stalk of a plant with radical leaves.
  scapose
  Having the floral axis more or less erect with few or no leaves; consisting of a scape.
  scarious
  Dry and membranous.
  schizocarp
  A dry fruit formed from more than one carpel but breaking apart into individual carpels (mericarps) when ripe.
  scion
  The aerial part of a graft combination, induced by various means to unite with a compatible understock or rootstock.
  sclereid
  A cell with a thick, lignified, cell wall that is shorter than a fiber cell and dies soon after the thickening of its cell wall.
  sclerenchyma
  A strengthening or supporting tissue composed of sclereids or of a mixture of sclereids and fibers.
  sclerophyll
  A plant with hard, stiff leaves; any structure stiffened with thick-walled cells.
  scorpioid
  (of a cymose inflorescence) Branching alternately on one side and then the other. Compare helicoid.
  scrobiculate
  Having very small pits.
  scrubland
  Dense vegetation dominated by shrubs.
  scurf
  Minute, loose, membranous scales on the surface of some plant parts, such as leaves.
  secondary metabolite
  Chemicals produced by a plant that do not have a role in so-called primary functions such as growth, development, photosynthesis, reproduction, etc.
  secondary species
  In lichens, a "species" taxon of lichen reproducing only by vegetative means, whose components reproduce mainly by sexual means – cf. primary species.
  secretory tissue
  The tissues concerned with the secretion of gums, resins, oils and other substances in plants.
  section (sectio)
  The category of supplementary taxa intermediate in rank between subgenus and series. It is a singular noun always written with a capital initial letter, in combination with the generic name.
  secund
  Having all the parts grouped on one side or turned to one side (applied especially to inflorescences).
  sedge
  A plant of the family Cyperaceae.
  seed
  A ripened ovule, consisting of a protective coat enclosing an embryo and food reserves; a propagating organ formed in the sexual reproductive cycle of gymnosperms and angiosperms (together, the seed plants).
  segment
  A part or subdivision of an organ, e.g. a petal is a segment of the corolla. A term sometimes used when the sepals and petals are indistinguishable.
  self-pollination
  (also selfing) The acceptance by stigmas of pollen from the same flower or from flowers on the same plant, which means they are self-compatible.
  semaphyll
  A structure such as a bract or sepal (if the remainder of the perianth is inco
caption: The convolute spathe around the spadix of Zantedeschia aethiopica
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