Glossary of Botanical Terminology
This page contains a glossary of common and not-so-common terms used in the teaching of Botany. We are adding to this listing on a somewhat ad-lib basis and are selecting plants from our teaching collections that demonstrate the various terms.
In many cases our collections contain numerous examples of a given term and we have selected examples that best exemplify the feature and/or demonstrate it across numerous families.
If you have suggestions for better example species (whether currently in our collection or not) for any of the terms listed, by all means contact us and let us know. One of our primary missions is teaching and we are striving to put together the best reference collection that we can.
Enjoy...
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| aphyllous - leafless or with inconspicuous scale leaves | | bulbiferous - bearing bulbs or bulbils for vegetative propagation | | cladode - a flattened stem resembling a leaf in form and function | | enantiostylous - with asymmetrical flowers, in which the style bends to one side. Individuals of enantiostylous plants are either right or left handed, and enantiostyly acts to discourage self pollination: a left handed plant will deposit most of its pollen on the right | | enation - A relatively large outgrowth of photosynthetic tissue, arising from the surface of a stem or leaf. | | hemiparasite - parasitic plant having chlorophyll and capable of providing some of its own nutrition | | holoparasite - parasitic plant wholly dependent upon host, lacking chlorophyll | | myrmecophyte - plants inhabited by ants and offering specialised shelters and food for them | | prickle - A sharp pointed structure that develops as a superficial outgrowth of a leaf or stem. Prickles are usually scattered over the organ that bears them. | | spine - A sharp pointed outgrowth from the surface of a plant, derived from modified leaf tissue. Spines are lateral appendages born on stems in a set pattern, like ordinary leaves. | | thorn - A sharp pointed structure derived from a modified vegetative shoot or inflorescence. Like ordinary shoots, thorns are either terminal or arise from the axils of leaves. |
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