Glossary
In this book, it is our aim to provide a gentle introduction to some of the technical terms used in botany. These words usually have a precise meaning in botany which allows us to avoid long descriptions. Those terms used in the text are listed below.
- Anther
- pollen sac at the top of the stamen
- Aril
- fleshy attachment to a seed
- Axillary bud
- bud in the angle between a leaf and the stem
- Bipinnate
- divided two times in a pinnate fashion, usually referring to a compound leaf
- Bole
- the unbranched part of a tree trunk
- Bracteole
- a modified leaf at the base of a flower and above the true bract
- Calyx
- outer whorl of a flower
- Carpel
- a female part of a flower, which is either single or multiple; in flowers with multiple carpels they may be fused together or separate
- Cordate
- heart shaped at one end, when referring to a leaf
- Corolla
- the whorl that is inside the calyx, with lobes called petals
- Dioecious
- describing species that have separate male and female individuals
- Domatia
- structures on leaves in which tiny insects live, these may be cavities or tufts of hair
- Endocarp
- the inner layer of a fruit, surrounding the seeds
- Exudate
- a liquid which comes out of a plant, for example sap
- Follicle
- a pod from a single carpel
- Inflorescence
- specialised branches with flowers
- Leaflet
- small leaf-like division of a compound leaf
- Midrib
- the middle vein on a leaf or leaflet
- Ovate
- egg shaped, that is wider towards the base
- Peduncle
- Peduncle
- Perianth
- the combined whorls of corolla and calyx or single whorl if either one is absent
- Petal
- a lobe of the corolla
- Petiole
- the stalk at the base of a leaf
- Petiolule
- the stalk at the base of a leaflet
- Pinna
- the first order division of a bipinnate compound leaf
- Pinnae
- plural of pinna
- Pinnate
- Pinnate
- Rachis
- the main axis of a compound leaf
- Sepal
- a lobe of the calyx
- Slash
- a cut made in the bark to aid in identification
- Stamen
- which contains the pollen
- Stellate hair
- a branched hair which looks like a star from above
- Stipel
- an outgrowth at the base of a petiolule on a compound leaf
- Stipule
- an outgrowth at the base of a petiole
- Tepal
- a perianth lobe