Glossary of botanical terms

- A -
ACAULE: That it does not have stem.
ACICULAR: Resemblance in form to a needle.
ACTINOMORFIC (flower): Of regular shape. It has at least two plans of symmetry.
ACUMINATED: Tapering gradually to a point at the apex.
ADVENTITIOUS (root, offset, etc.): A growing from somewhere other than the primary growing, for example, roots that arise from stems or leaves.
ALKALOID: Organic nitrogen substances of vegetal origin with basic character and energetic physiological action.
APEX: End point of leaf, petal, plants, etc.
ATROPHYC: In atrophy state.
ARMPIT: Point of divergence of branch, leaf or tubercle.

- B -
BRACT: Transformed leaf, often colored which grows near to the flower.

- C -
CAPSULE (fruit in): Simple fruit with dry walls.
CEPHALIUM: Peculiar organ of some cactaceae, constituted by a mass of wool, bristles and spines, from which the flowers and fruits appear.
CLAVIFORM: Club shaped.
COLYMB: A generally flat-topped flower cluster with pedicels varying in length, the outer flowers opening first.
COTYLEDON: First leaves of the plant growing from seed.
CRENATE: Having rounded teeth along the margin.
CUNEIFORM: In triangular shape and with straight and convergent edges in the lower part.

- D -
DECUMBENT: Lying on the ground but having an ascending tip.
DECURRENT: Descriptive of leaves whose edges run down onto the stem.

- E -
ENSIFORM: Shaped like a sword.
EPIDERMIS: Outer layer of the skin.
EPIPHYTE: A plant which grows upon another plant. The epiphyte does not parasite the plant on which it grows, but merely uses the plant for structural support.

- F -
FILIFORM: Threadlike.
FLORET: A small flower in a flower head or other cluster.
FUNNELFORM: Descriptive of a flower whose corolla tube widens gradually and uniformly from the base.

- G -
GENETIC DISPERSION: Difference in the characters from the descendants coming from seeds from a plant.
GLABROUS: Without hairs.
GLAUCOUS: Bluish green color frequently of somewhat waxy appearance.

- H -
HABIT: The general growth pattern of a plant. A plant's habit may be described as creeping, trees, shrubs, vines, etc.
HEAD: A flower spike or raceme shortened to form a compact, flattened to globose cluster.
HOARY: Closely covered with short and fine whitish hairs.
HYALINE: Transparent.

- I -
IMBRICATED: Lying lapped over each other in regular order (like scales of a fish or shingles on a roof).
INCURVED: Bent or curved inwards or upwards; of leaf margins, curved towards the adaxial surface.
INFLORESCENCE: Technically, the way flowers are arranged in a cluster; generally, a flower cluster.

- L -
LANCEOLATE: Shaped like a lance head, that is, tapering to a point at the apex and at the base.
LINEAR: Long and narrow, with nearly parallel sides.
LIP: One of the parts in a corolla or calyx divided into two unequal parts.
LOBE: A part or division, especially when rounded, of an organ.

- M -
MENDEL'S LAW: The ones formulated by Mendel in which the genetic characters of the generations are related.
MERISTEM: Group of undifferentiated cells from which new tissues are produced. Most plants have apical meristems which give rise to the primary tissues of plants, and some have secondary.
MUTATION: Abrupt change in the hereditary characters.

- N -
NAPIFORM (root): Shaped like a turnip: Large and round at the top, tapering and very slender below.
NECTARY: A gland that secretes nectar.

- O -
OBLONG: Longer than wider.
OBTUSE Rounded or blunt.
OFFSET: Each one of the buds of the vegetal foot.
to orbicular: to circulate, round.
ORBICULAR: Circular or approximately round.
OVAL: Broadly elliptical.
OVARY: In flowering plants, the part of the flower which encloses the ovules. When the ovary matures, it becomes the fruit.
OVATE: Shaped like an egg, with the narrow end at the apex.
OVOID: Ovate.

- P -
PANICLE: A raceme compounded by branching.
PAPILAE: Small pimple-like projections on a surface, such as on a lip.
PEDICEL: The stalk of one flower in a cluster.
PEDUNCLE: The stalk of a flower cluster or of a solitary flower.
PELTATE: Having a stalk attached at or near the middle.
PERENNIAL: A plant which continues to grow after it has reproduced, usually meaning that it lives for several years.
PERIANTH: The sepals and petals of a flower are together called the perianth.
PERSISTENT: Remaining on the plant; not falling off.
PETAL: One of the outer appendages of a flower, located between the outer sepals and the stamens. Petals often display bright colors that serve to attract pollinators.
PETALOID: Which resembles to petals.
PETIOLE: The stalk of a leaf.
PH: Index used for the quantitative expression of the acidity of a watery dissolution. The neutrality corresponds to ph = 7, the dissolutions of ph lower to 7 those would be acidic, and alkaline or basic if superior to 7.
PUBESCENT: Covered with down or soft, short hairs.

- R -
RACEME: An elongated flower cluster in which flowers grow on pedicels along part of the length of the peduncle.
RADICAL: Growing from or pertaining to a root; growing from a non-aerial stem.
RECESSIVE: A gene that is phenotypically manifest in the homozygous state but is masked in the presence of a dominant allele.
RHIZOME: A horizontal underground stem, such as found in many ferns, where only the leaves may stick up into the air.
ROOT: Usually the below ground portion of a plant.

- S -
SCALE: A small, usually dry leaf that is closely pressed against another organ.
SELF-STERILE: Plant which flower cannot be fertilized by its own pollen.
SESSILE: Not supported on a stem or footstalk.
SHORT DAYS (plants of): Those that need 10-14 hours of light a day to bloom.
SPATULATE: Shaped like a spoon, with a narrow end at the base.
SPORE: A one-celled reproductive body produced by relatively primitive plants.
STAMEN: The male or pollen-bearing organ of a flower.
STIGMA: The sticky tip of a pistil. Or, the dense region of pigments found in many photosynthetic protists which is sensitive to light, and thus functions somewhat like a miniature eye.
STOLON: A branch that grows horizontally above the medium and produces roots and shoots at the nodes
STOMATA: Openings in the epidermis of a stem or leaf of a plant which permit gas exchange with the air.
STROBILE: A cone or conelike structure.
STYLE: The slender, elongated part of a pistil.

- T -
TRILOBED (leaf): Divided in three portions or lobes.
TUBERCLE: Prominence in the body of a cactus.
TUBER: A thick, fleshy part, usually of a rootstock.
TURBINATE: Top-shaped; flattened at the apex and abruptly tapered at the base.

- U -
UMBLE: A more or less flat-topped flower cluster in which the pedicels arise from a common point. In compound umbels, each primary pedicel terminates in a secondary umbel.

- V -
VAR.: Abbreviation of variety.
VASCULAR: Relative to vessel.

- Z -
ZIGOMORPHYC: An irregular flower which may be bilaterally symmetrical.