Glossary for Plant Identification

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A B C D F L M N O P R S T U V W

Alternate (leaves, buds) – arranged singly at intervals along twigs

Base (leaf) – the lower portion of a leaf, towards the leafstalk

Berry – a fleshy fruit that contains small seeds

Blade – the broad expanded portion of a leaf

Bract – a floral leaf

Branchlets – the youngest and smallest division of a branch, excluding twigs

Bristle tip – a small hair on the pointed tip of leaves

Bundle scars – tiny dots or lines within the leaf scar

Capsule – a dry fruit that splits partly open at maturity

Catkin – a cluster of tiny flowers or fruits, usually fuzzy and caterpillar shaped

Chambered (pith) – pith divided crosswise by numerous plates or membranes. The pith looks ladder-like when the twig is cut lengthwise.

Coarse toothed – a leaf edge with large teeth

Compound – a leaf divided into leaflets

Cone – the reproductive structure on evergreen trees such as pines, spruce and firs that produce pollen or seed

Conifer – those trees that reproduce through the production of cones

Deciduous – falls off seasonally, usually in autumn or dry seasons

Dioecious – plants that have the male and female flowers on separate plants of the same species

Double toothed – a leaf edge in which each tooth bears smaller teeth

Doubly compound – a compound leaf with compound leaflets attached on both sides of a central stalk

Drupe – a fleshy fruit with a stony seed structure at the center

Fine toothed – a leaf edge in which there are many small teeth

Fruit – the seed-bearing portion of a plant with its associated structures

Lateral (bud) – to the side rather than at the end of a twig or a branchlet

Leaflet – a leaf-like subdivision of a compound leaf

Leaf scars – the mark left on the twig at the point of attachment of a leafstalk when the leaf falls

Leafstalk – the stalk supporting a leaf (petiole)

Lobed (leaf, flower, petal, sepal) – divided into incompletely separated sections, often rounded

Midrib – the central rib or main vein of a leaf or a leaflet

Nut – a hard, dry fruit that does not naturally split open and contains one seed

Opposite (leaves, leaf scars, buds) – two at a node; in opposing pairs

Palmate – a compound leaf with leaflets radiating from a point

Pendent – hanging from a stem

Petal – a floral organ that is leaf-like and often brightly colored

Petiole – the stalk of a leaf

Pinnate – midribs of several leaflets branching from a central main midrib at several points in a featherlike pattern

Pith – the spongy or hollow center of twigs or some stems

Pod – the dryish fruit of some plants, contains one to many seeds and usually flattened

Pome – a fruit that develops from compound ovaries and contains many seeds

Rhizome – a horizontal, underground stem

Samara – an indehiscent, usually one-seeded winged fruit

Seed – the portion of the ripened fruit that contains the embryo and its closely associated essential coats

Sepal – a leaf-like floral organ that protects the unopened flower bud

Serrated – having a toothed or notched edge

Sheath (conifer needle) – thin tissue at needle base that binds the needle bundles

Shrub – a woody plant that grows with several equally strong stems and less than 15 feet maximum height

Simple – composed of only a single blade, though sometimes lobed

Spike (flowers, fruit) – a cluster with a narrow, fingerlike shape, the individual flowers or fruit without separate stalks or with only very short ones

Spur shoots – a stubby branchlet with densely crowded leaves and leaf scars

Stalk – a stem or similar structure that supports a flower, flower cluster, or a leaf

Stalked (buds) – having a narrow neck-like base

Thorn – a stout, sharp, woody outgrowth of the stem

Truncate - Square or broad at the end, not tapered, base or apex essentially straight across

Tubular (flower) – with the basal portion hollow and tube-like

Undulant – a leaf edge with minor vertical waviness

Vein – a circulatory structure often prominent in leaves

Whorled – leaves or leaf scars arranged in whorls around the twigs