– calyx-like structure, usually surrounding, and appressed, to the calyx.
Epiphyte – plant that grows on another plant, on which it is not a parasite.
Fen – wetland habitat on alkaline peat.
Filament – stalk part of a stamen.
Flexuous – wavy.
Floret – small flower, part of larger floral arrangement as in composite flowers or umbellifers.
Fruits – seeds of a plant and their associated structures.
Genus (plural Genera) – group of closely related species, sharing the same genus name.
Glabrous – lacking hairs.
Gland – sticky structure at the end of a hair.
Glaucous – blue-grey in colour.
Globose – spherical or globular.
Glume – pair of chaff-like scales at the base of a grass spikelet.
Hybrid – plant derived from the crossfertilisation of two different species.
Inflorescence – the flowering structure in its entirety, including bracts.
Introduced – not native to the region.
Keel – seen in pea family members; the fused two lower petals that are shaped like a boat’s keel.
Lanceolate – narrow and lance-shaped.
Latex – milky fluid.
Lax – open, not dense.
Leaflet – leaf-like segment or lobe of a leaf.
Ligule – somewhat membranous flap at the base of a grass leaf, where it joins the stem.
Linear – slender and parallel-sided.
Lip – usually the lower part of an irregular flower such as an orchid.
Lobe – division of a leaf.
Microspecies – division within a species, members of which are only subtly different from members of other microspecies.
Midrib – central vein of a leaf.
Native – occurring naturally in the region and not known to have been introduced.
Node – point on the stem where a leaf arises.
Nut – a dry, one-seeded fruit with a hard outer case.
Nutlet – small nut.
Oblong – leaf whose sides are at least partly parallel-sided.
Obtuse – blunt-tipped (usually in the context of a leaf).
Opposite – (usually leaves) arising in opposite pairs on the stem.
Opposite
Oval – leaf shape. Ovate is oval in outline.
Ovary – structure containing the ovules, or immature seeds.
Ovoid – egg-shaped.
Palmate – leaf with finger-like lobes arising from the same point.
Panicle – branched inflorescence.
Pappus – tuft of hairs on a fruit.
Parasite – plant that derives its nutrition entirely from another living organism.
Pedicel – stalk of an individual flower.
Perennial – plant that lives for more than two years.
Perfoliate – surrounding the stem.
Perianth – collective name for a flower’s petals and sepals.
Petals – inner segments of a flower, often colourful.
Petiole – leaf stalk.
Pinnate – leaf division with opposite pairs of leaflets and a terminal one.
Pod – elongated fruit, often almost cylindrical, seen in pea family members.
Pollen – tiny grains that contain male sex cells, produced by a flower’s anthers.
Procumbent – lying on the ground.
Prostrate – growing in a manner pressed tightly to the ground.
Pubescent – with soft, downy hairs.
Ray – one of the stalks of an umbel.
Ray floret – one of the outer florets of a composite flower.
Receptacle – swollen upper part of a stem to which the flower is attached.
Recurved – curving backwards or downwards.
Reflexed – bent back at an angle of more than 90 degrees.
Rhizome – underground, or ground-level, stem.
Rosette – clustered, radiating arrangement of leaves at ground level.
Saprophyte – plant that lacks chlorophyll and which derives its nutrition from decaying matter.
Sepal – one of the outer, usually less colourful, segments of a flower.
Sessile – lacking a stalk.
Shrub – branched, woody plant.
Spadix – spike of florets as seen in members of the genus Arum.
Spathe – large, leafy bract surrounding the flower spike as seen in members of the genus Arum.
Species – division within classification that embraces organisms that closely resemble one another and that can interbreed to produce a viable
