Botanical terms used on this website
alternate: describes placement of leaves on stem, “alternately,” rather than in pairs (which is “opposite”). See Illustrations of Leaf Shapes.
angiosperm: a plant whose seeds are enclosed in an ovary (which we also call the “fruit”). All flowering plants are angiosperms.
annual: a plant that completes its entire life-cycle (from seed to sprout to flower to seed) within less than one calendar year. Annuals can sprout in the spring and seed by summer or fall, or sprout in the fall and overwinter to seed in the spring.
anther: the male portion of a flower’s anatomy, from which pollen is distributed.
axil: the angle on the upper side between a leaf and its stem.
basal: describes leaves that emerge from the base of the plant.
basal rosette: describes leaves that emerge from the same place at the base of the plant and make a circular shape.
biennial: a plant that takes two years to complete its life-cycle. Generally, biennials sprout in the spring, only grow leaves in the first year, and then flower and seed in the spring of the next year.
bract: a leaf that is part of a flower head, often resembling a petal.
calyx: Greek for “cup” and describes the cup-shaped group sepals at the base of a flower-head.
codominant: a plant that shares dominance of an ecosystem with another plant (or plants).
coniferous: a plant that produces cones (rather than flowers) to make seeds.
cordate: heart-shaped. See Illustrations of Leaf Shapes.
deciduous: describes leaves that shed from the plant, either seasonally or in response to variations in temperature or moisture. Occasionally used to describe flowers, in contrast to their being “persistent.”
decumbent: leaning over.
drought-deciduous: describes leaves that shed from the plant in response to less water.
dioecious: plant has separate male and female flowers on separate plants.
disc flower: the flowers that make up the round “disc” in the middle of flower-heads in the Sunflower Family (Asteraceae).
elliptic: See Illustrations of Leaf Shapes.
entire: describes the margins of a leaf, and means un-toothed.
ephemeral: an annual plant that completes its life-cycle in a very short amount of time, from several weeks to a few months, usually in response to seasonal factors such as water or temperature.
evergreen: a plant that never sheds all its leaves (or needles) all at once.
fascicles: describes when leaves are bundled together along a stem (as opposed to “alternate” or “opposite”)
fruit: a swollen body produced by a successfully pollinated flower, in which seeds form; when dried, people call it the “seed pod.”
gymnosperm: a plant whose seed is not encased in an ovary. Cone-bearing (“coniferous”) plants are gymnosperms.
herb: a plant with no woody parts, whose stems entirely die back to the ground seasonally.
herbaceous: an adjective that describes a plant with no woody parts, whose stems entirely die back to the ground seasonally.
inflorescence: a collection of flower-heads.
involucre: In plants in the Sunflower Family (Asteraceae), the collection of phyllaries, which are the the bracts below the flower head, at the base of what is considered the bud; in other families, such as Carrot (Apiaceae) and Buckwheat (Polygonaceae), it can be the collection of bracts below a flower-head.
keeled: describing a leaf that is folded or creased length-wise.
lanceolate: See Illustrations of Leaf Shapes.
linear: See Illustrations of Leaf Shapes.
lobes or lobed: describes the margins of petals or leaves that are shaped into rounded segments.
monoecious: a plant with separate male and female flowers on the same plant.
nitrogen fixer: a plant that cooperates with soil organisms to capture nitrogen from the air and store it in nodules on its roots.
nutlet: a small fruiting body containing a seed and protected by a hard shell.
oblanceolate: See Illustrations of Leaf Shapes.
oblong: See Illustrations of Leaf Shapes.
obovate: See Illustrations of Leaf Shapes.
opposite: describes placement of leaves on stem, in pairs across from (“opposite”) each other
ovary: female organ of a flower, which becomes a fruit when pollinated, and where the seeds develop.
ovate: See Illustrations of Leaf Shapes.
palmately-compound, palmately-lobed, palmately-trifolate: See Illustrations of Leaf Shapes.
pappus: in the anatomy of flowers in the Sunflower Family (Asteraceae), the pappus is the collection of bristles or feather-like hairs formed by the calyx.
pedicel: the stem between a flower or fruit and the stalk.
perennial: a plant that grows for multiple years, often not flowering in the first year (or even first several years).
persistent style: a style that stays on the end of the fruit after the petals of the flower drop away.
petiole: the stalk that connects the leaf to a stem.
phyllaries: in flowers in the Sunflower Family (Asteraceae), the bracts below a flower-head.
pinnately-compound, pinnately-lobed: See Illustrations of Leaf Shapes.
plicate: accordion-folded.
pubescence: hairiness or fuzziness.
ray flower: the flowers that radiate around disc flowers; example: the white “petals” on a daisy.
rosette: a round shape, usually formed by leaves emerging from the same central location.
sepal: the parts of a flower-head, often green, found below the petals; they are the “doors” that open on a bud.
sessile: describes a leaf which attaches directly to a stem or branch without a petiole (with no intervening stem of its own).
shrub: a perennial, woody-stemmed plant that does not die back to the ground seasonally.
stamen: a male part of a flower that bears pollen.
stigma: a portion of the female part of a flower that receives pollen.
stomata: a pore in a leaf through which the plant absorbs air and water; stomata are able to open and close.
style: a female part of the flower, through which pollen passes to fertilize the seeds.
sub-shrub: a small shrub.
sympetalous: a flower with fused petals.
tepal: sepals that look like petals.
twice pinnately-compound: See Illustrations of Leaf Shapes.
transpiration: the processes by which a plant takes up water with its roots and loses it through evaporation