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 Glossary
Alternate leaves- arranged singly at different levels on the stem.
Aril- an expansion of the seed stalk, growing partly or completely over the seed, usually fleshy and often brightly coloured.
Buttress- extension of the base of the trunk of a tree, often flange-like.
Canopy- the upper cover of foliage of a plant community.
Capsule- a dry, usually many-seeded fruit of two or more chambers, breaking open at maturity.
Coppice- extra leafy shoots produced from the base of a tree.
Epiphyte- a plant growing upon another plant, but never parasitic.
Family- a group of related genera.
Genus (plural, genera)- a group of closely related species.
Gland- a small structure on the surface, or within the tissue of a leaf or other organ, which secretes such substances as nectar or oil.
Lichen- a combination of an alga and a fungus, in such close association as to form what appears to be a single individual.
Opposite leaves- arising at the same level but on opposite sides of the stem.
Sepal- one of the usually green outer segments surrounding a flower, usually collectively known as the calyx.
Shrub- a woody plant less than eight metres high, usually branching lowdown or with many stems.
Species- a distinct, recognizable kind of plant or animal.
Stamen- the male organ of a flower, consisting of a stalk and a pollenbearing anther.
Stipules- one, or one pair of appendages, sometimes leafy and often very small, at the base of the leaf stalk.
Tendril- part of a plant modified into a slender, elongate climbing organ.
Whorl- a group of three or more leaves or other structures, arising at the same point.
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