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BOTANICAL GLOSSARY

Glossary of commonly used botanical terms and their definitions. Use the search bar below to look up a botanical term.

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15 Random Botanical Terms

FAC - Facultative - Hydrophyte. Occurs in wetlands and non-wetlands.

Lobe - Part or segment of a flower or leaf; a deep indentation that does not break the continuity of the structure.

Solitary - Borne singly; alone.

Rachis - The axis of a pinnately compound leaf.

Thorn - A sharp-pointed structure formed by a modified branch.

Reniform - Kidney-shaped.

Entire - Said of margins without teeth or lobes.

Lanceolate - Having the shape of a spear-head or lance.

Flower head - A dense arrangement of flowers arising from a common point, as in Apiaceae, or as in Asteraceae where many ray flowers and/or disc flowers make up one "flower head." See also, Capitulum.

Elliptic - Shaped like an ellipse, resembling a flattened circle.

Appressed - Pressed or lying flat against something.

Pod - A dry fruit that splits after ripening, a term applied to fruits in the Legume Family.

Truncate - Ending abruptly, e.g., a leaf blade squared at the base.

Shoot - A stem or branch and its leaves.

Vine - Plants that climb by twining, tendrils, or clinging.