Glossary of Plant Terms
E to H
E
echinate: densely covered with rigid hairs or small prickles.
ecotone: the transition zone between two plant communities, e.g. between rainforest and sclerophyll forest. adj. ecotonal.
eglandular: without glands, that is glands absent.
elaiosome: a small appendage on a seed, usually rich in oil and thus assists in the seeds dispersal by being attractive to ants; sometimes included with small aril-like structures.
ellipsoid: the 3-dimensional shape equivalent of elliptic, broadest at about the middle.
elliptic: a 2-dimensional shape, broadest about the middle and with margins symmetrically curved, and with ratio of 2:1 to 3:2. Broad-elliptic with ratio of less than 2:1 and narrow-elliptic with ratio of more than 3:2.
elongate: lengthened; stretched out.
emarginate: of an apex, notched with a sharp, often deep notch. cf. retuse and truncate.
embryo: the rudimentary plant contained within the seed.
emergent: of a plant rising above the surrounding plants, e.g. of a tree above the rainforest canopy.
endemic: having a natural distribution confined to a particular geographic region. cf. native.
endocarp: the innermost layer of a multi-layered fruit, i.e. the stone or pyrene. The endocarp of a drupe is woody, bony or parchment-like.
entire: of a margin, neither dissected nor toothed.
epi-: a prefix
epicalyx: a whorl of bracteoles just below the flower, resembling an extra calyx, as in Hibiscus splendens.
epicarp: the outermost layer of the pericarp of a fruit.
epicormic: term describing buds, shoots or flowers borne on the old wood of trees, often applied to shoots arising from dormant buds after injury or fire, as in eucalypts.
epidermis: the outer layer of cells of an organ.
epigynous: of the floral parts (sepals, petals and stamens), when they are inserted at the top of an inferior ovary. cf. hypogynous, perigynous.
epipetalous: borne on the petals.
epiphyte: a plant perched on another plant, but not parasitic on it.
erect: (1) upright, e.g. of a shrub; (2) perpendicular to a surface, e.g. of hairs.
erose: of a margin or apex, irregularly incised or torn, as in Linospadix monostahyos,
evergreen: a plant bearing leaves throughout the year. cf. deciduous.
exocarp: the combined epicarp and mesocarp of a fruit.
exserted: protruding, e.g. of stamens projecting beyond the corolla tube or of valves beyond the rim of a capsular fruit. cf. included.
external runner: an external root in some mistletoes that runs along the surface of the host plant and attaches to the host plant by haustoria.
exudate: a fluid (often viscous and coloured) emerging from plant parts such as broken or cut twigs and petioles; characteristic of some families such as Apocynaceae and Moraceae.
F
falcate: sickle-shaped, as of a leaf.
false fruit: see accessory fruit.
family: a group of one or more genera believed to be related. cf. genus.
fasciated: unnaturally and often grotesquely fused, the coalesced parts often grossly proliferated in size and/or number, as in inflorescences of Celosia.
fascicle: a cluster of leaves, stamens, flowers etc.
feature: any character of an organism or taxonomic group that can be measured, counted or otherwise assessed.
felted: covered with matted hairs so as to give a felt-like appearance.
ferruginous: rust-coloured.
fertile: capable of reproducing itself; also used of portions of a plant or organ producing reproductive organs. cf. sterile.
filament: (1) the stalk of a stamen. (2) a thread-like process, as in the corona of Passiflora edulis.
filiform: thread-like.
filiform flower: a small female flower in the outer part of the flower head in the family Asteraceae, sometimes called a filiform floret.
fimbriate: the margin of an organ which is bordered with long slender processes (particularly hairs). cf. ciliate.
fissured: of bark, where the surface is marked by longitudinal grooves.
flammuliform: complicated division of some leaves in species of Clematis, the leaf divided into 5 primary segments, and each of these is divided again ternately into 15 leaflets. Some leaflets are further divided into additional leaflets or segments.
flexuous: flexuose; bent from side to side in one plane, in zigzag form. as in stems of Meiogyne stenopetala.
floccose: a covering of soft woolly hairs which tend to rub off.
flora: (1) the assemblage of plant taxa of an area; (2) a book dealing systematically with the plants of an area.
floral tube: see hypanthium.
floristic: pertaining to flowers or the flora of an area.
floristic region: referring to a geographical area in which the plant species are distinctive.
flower: the sexual reproductive structure of angiosperms.
fluted trunk: trunk with longitudinal ridges or channels; a distinctive feature of some large trees.
foliate: having leaves, e.g. 3-foliate is having 3 leaves; leaf-like. Often used incorrectly for foliolate as in 3-foliolate a compound leaf with 3 leaflets.
foliolate: a suffix used with a number prefix to indicate the number of leaflets forming a compound leaf, as in 1-foliolate, 2-foliolate and 3-foliolate.
follicle: a dry dehiscent fruit derived from a single carpel and opening along one suture.
forest: a plant community dominated by closely spaced long-boled trees that have crowns mostly narrow and dense-foliaged and are separated from each other by an average distance equal to 1 to 3 times the average crown width. cf.woodland.
form: see forma.
forma: the smallest taxonomic category, generally used for variations occurring amongst individuals of any population, as in Ficus ruiginosa.
four-ranked: 4-ranked; arranged in four regular vertical rows around the stem, as in adult foliage of Wollemia nobilis.
foveolae: see domatia. sing. foveola.
free: not united with any other organ.
frond: the leaf of a fern or cycad; sometimes used for a large compound leaf as in palms.
fruit: the seed-bearing structure in angiosperms, developed from the ovary after flowering. Fruit may be dry or fleshy and dehiscent or indehiscent at maturity and are produced in a wide variety of forms and sizes.
fruitlet: a unit of the fruit that functions as a separate seed-dispersing unit.
funicle: the stalk of an ovule or the stalk of a seed.
fused: joined and growing together.
fusiform: a 3-dimensional shape, spindle-shaped, thick but tapering towards each end.
G
gallery forest: GRf, rainforest along creeks and rivers which flow through areas which are otherwise dominated by a different vegetation type or less well-developed forest.
geniculate: bent like a knee, a joint, as in the petiole of a 1-foliolate leaf.
genus: a taxonomic group containing closely related species or a single species without close relatives; closely related genera are grouped into families. pl. genera.
glabrescent: becoming glabrous (hairless and without scales).
glabrous: without indumentum, without hairs and scales.
gland: a structure, within or on the surface of a plant, with a secretory function; e.g. surface glands, petiolar or lamina glands, oil glands.
gland-dotted: punctate; of a surface or structure with prominent raised or coloured glands, so that the surface appears dotted.
glandular: having glands, e.g. glandular hairs.
glaucous: dull bluish or greyish green in colour, with a whitish waxy bloom which can often be rubbed off; characteristic of some young stems, leaves (especially lower surface) or green-coloured fruit, as in Araujia sericifera. cf. pruinose.
globose: (orbicular, spherical) a 3-dimensional shape, circular in outline.
globular: a 3-dimensional shape, shaped like a globule, circular and drawn out at the apex.
glochid: a barbed bristle, as in areoles of Opuntia stricta.
gorge rainforest: a form of Dry Rf that occurs as narrow sheltered communities in protected, steep, rocky gorges.
granular: of a surface, covered with small granules.
growth form: (life form) the habit of the plant, e.g. tree, shrub, climber etc.
gymnosperms: plants such as conifers and cycads whose seeds are naked, the ovules not being enclosed in an ovary. cf. angiosperms.
gynoecium: the female part of the flower, consisting of ovary, style and stigma. The gynoecium consists of one or more than one carpel, the carpels free or fused. cf. androecium.
gynophore: an elongated stalk of the ovary that raises the ovary above the level at which other floral parts are attached, as in species of Capparis.
gynostegium: a structure formed by the fusion of the stamens and part of the gynoecium, as in Cynanchum bowmanii.
H
habit: the general appearance of a plant, including size, shape and growth form, e.g. habit of a tree or shrub.
habitat: the kind of place in which a plant grows.
hair: an outgrowth of the epidermis, usually elongate and consisting of one or more cells; it can be simple or branched.
half-inferior ovary: an ovary inserted partly below and partly above the level of attachment of the floral parts (petals, sepals and stamens); the ovary is partly fused to the receptacle. cf. superior ovary, inferior ovary.
hastate: spear-shaped; of a leaf narrowly triangular in shape similar in shape to the spear head, or a lamina base with 2 basal lobes spreading more or less at right angles to the petiole.
haustorium: stem suckers, the absorbing organ of some parasitic or hemi-parasitic plants through which nutrients and water pass from the host to the parasite, as in Cassytha pubescens and in mistletoes. pl haustoria.
head: a dense cluster of more or less sessile flowers on an enlarged receptacle, as in many species of Acacia and in family Asteraceae (called a capitulum).
headland rainforest / vine thickets: a specialized Littoral Rainforest community growing on exposed headlands where the dominant species in northern N.S.W. and southern Queensland in the wind-sheared canopy is Brush Box (Lophostemon confertus).
heath: a plant community dominated by small closely packed shrubs, most of which have stiff and often small leaves.
hemi-: a prefix
hemi-parasite: an organism that is partly parasitic on another organism, e.g. mistletoes.
hemispherical: semiglobose.
herbaceous: herb-like, not woody; often applied to bracts, bracteoles or floral parts that are green and soft in texture. Also applied to the ground layer of low soft-leaved plants in a plant community.
hilum: the scar on the testa (seed coat) marking its point of attachment to the funicle during development.
hip: false ‘aggregate fruit’ in species of Rosa.
hirsute: covered in coarse, long hairs.
hispid: bristly. See bristle.
hoary: with a dense covering of short fine hairs or very small scales, so that the surface appears whitish or greyish.
host: an organism on which a parasite or hemi-parasite lives and by which it is fully or partly nourished.
hyaline: colourless or translucent, as in the colour of hairs.
hybrid: the offspring of genetically different parents (usually applied where the parents are of different species), indicated by an ‘x’ placed after the genus name and before the species name, as in Citrus x limon.
hypanthium: a cup-like or tubular structure in a flower resulting from the extension of the receptacle around and often above the ovary and with the floral parts (sepals, petals and stamens) inserted on the rim, e.g. as in families Nyctaginaceae and Atherospermataceae.
hypogynous: describing a flower, or floral parts, in which the sepals, petals and stamens are inserted below the superior ovary. cf. epigynous, perigynous.
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