Tree Terms


Abortive.= Defective or barren, through non-development of a part.



Acuminate.= Long-pointed.



Acute.= Ending with a sharp but not prolonged point.



Adherent.= Growing fast to; adnate anther, attached for its whole

length to the ovary.



Adnate.= Essentially same as adherent, with the added idea of

congenital adhesion.



Aggregate fruits.= Form
d by crowding together all the carpels of the

same flower; as in the blackberry.



Ament.= Name given to such flower-clusters as those of the willow,

birch, poplar, etc.



Anther.= The part of the stamen which bears the pollen.



Appressed.= Lying close against another organ.



Ascending.= Rising upward, or obliquely upward.



Axil.= Angle formed on the upper side between the leaf stem or flower

stem and the branch from which it springs.



Bract.= Reduced leaf subtending a flower or flower-cluster.



Branches, primary.= The leading or main branches thrown out directly

from the trunk, giving a general shape to the head.



Branches, secondary.= Never directly from the trunk but from other

branches.



Buttressed.= Supported against strain in any direction by a conspicuous

ridge-like enlargement of the trunk vertically to the roots. Several of

these buttresses often give a tree a square appearance.



Caducous.= Dropping off very early after development.



Calyx.= The outer set of the leaves of the flower.



Campanulate.= Bell-shaped.



Capitate.= Head-shaped or collected in a head.



Capsule.= A dry compound fruit.



Carpel.= A simple pistil.



Catkin.= See ament.



Ciliate.= Margin with hairs or bristles.



Coherent.= One organ uniting with another.



Compound.= See leaf, ovary, etc.



Connate.= Similar organs, more or less grown together.



Connective.= The part of the anther connecting its two cells.



Coriaceous.= Thick, leathery in texture.



Corolla.= Leaves of the flower within the calyx.



Corymb.= That sort of flower-cluster in which the flower stems arranged

along the central axis elongate, forming a broad convex or level top,

the flowers opening successively from the outer edge towards the center.



Crenate.= Edge with rounded teeth.



Crenulate.= Edge with small rounded teeth.



Cyme.= Flat-topped or convex flower-cluster, the central flower opening

first; blossoming outward.



Deciduous.= Falling off, as leaves in autumn, or calyx and corolla

before fruit grows.



Declining.= Bent downwards.



Decurrent.= Leaves prolonged on the stem beneath the insertion:

branchlets springing out beneath the point of furcation, as the

feathering along the trunk of elms, etc.



Dentate.= With teeth pointing outwards.



Disk.= Central part of a head of flowers; fleshy expansion of the

receptacle of a flower; any rounded, flat surface.



Drupe.= A stone fruit; soft externally with a stone at the center, as

the cherry and peach.



Erose.= Eroded, as if gnawed.



Exserted.= Protruding, projecting out of.



Falcate.= Scythe-shaped.



Fertile.= Flowers containing the pistil, capable of producing fruit.

Anthers in such blossoms, if any, are generally abortive.



Fibrovascular.= Bundle or tissue, formed of wood fibers, ducts, etc.



Filament.= Part of stamen supporting anther.



Fungus.= A division of cryptogamous plants, including mushrooms, etc.



Furcation.= Branching.



Glabrous.= Smooth without hairiness or roughness.



Glandular.= Bearing glands or appendages having the appearance of

glands.



Glaucous.= Covered with a bloom: bluish hoary.



Globose.= Spherical or nearly so.



Habit.= The general appearance of a plant.



Habitat.= The place where a plant naturally grows, as in swamps, in

water, upon dry hillsides, etc.



Hybrid.= A cross between two species.



Imbricated.= Overlapping.



Inflorescence.= Mode of disposition of flowers; sometimes applied to

the flower-cluster itself.



Involucre.= Bracts subtending a flower or a cluster of flowers.



Keeled.= Having a central dorsal ridge like the keel of a boat.



Key.= A winged fruit; a samara.



Lacerate.= Irregularly cleft, as if torn.



Lanceolate.= Lance-shaped, broadest above the base, gradually narrowing

to the apex.



Leaf.= Consisting when botanically complete of a blade, usually flat, a

footstalk and two appendages at base of the footstalk; often consisting

of blade only.



Leaf, compound.= Having two to many distinct blades on a common

leafstalk or rachis. These blades may be sessile or have leafstalks of

their own.



Leaf, pinnately compound.= With the leaflets arranged along the sides

of the rachis.



Leaf, palmately compound.= With leaflets all standing on summit of

petiole.



Leaf-cushions.= Organs resembling persistent decurrent footstalks, upon

which leaves of spruces, etc., stand; sterigmata.



Leaf-scar.= The scar left on the twig where the petiole was attached.



Lenticel.= Externally appearing upon the bark as spots, warts, and

perpendicular or transverse lines.



Linear.= Long and narrow with sides nearly parallel.



Monopetalous.= Having petals more or less united.



Mucronate.= Abruptly tipped with a small, sharp point.



Nerved.= Having prominent unbranched ribs or veins.



Obcordate.= Inversely heart-shaped.



Obovate.= Ovate with the broader end towards the apex.



Obtuse.= Blunt or rounded at the end.



Orbicular.= Having a circular or nearly circular outline.



Ovary.= The part of the pistil containing the ovules.



Ovoid.= A solid with an oval or ovate outline.



Ovuliferous.= Bearing ovules.



Panicle.= General term for any loose and irregular flower-cluster,

commonly of the racemose type, with pedicellate flowers.



Pedicel.= The stalk of a single flower in the ultimate divisions of an

inflorescence.



Peduncle.= The stem of a solitary flower or of a cluster.



Perfect.= Having both pistils and stamens.



Perianth.= The floral envelope consisting of calyx, corolla, or both.



Persistent.= Not falling for a long time.



Petal.= A division of the corolla.



Petiole.= The stalk of a leaf.



Petiolule.= The stalk of a leaflet in a compound leaf.



Pistil.= The seed-bearing organ of the flower.



Pistillate.= Provided with pistils; usually applied to flowers without

stamens.



Pollen.= The fertilizing grains contained in the anthers.



Puberulent.= Minutely pubescent.



Pubescent.= Covered with short soft or downy hairs.



Raceme.= A simple cluster of pediceled flowers upon a common axis.



Rachis.= The main axis of a compound leaf, of a raceme or of a spike.



Ramification.= Branching.



Range.= The geographical extent and limits of a species.



Reflexed.= Turned backward.



Reticulated.= Netted; in the form of a network.



Revolute.= Rolled backward from the margin or apex.



Samara.= Key fruit; winged fruit, like that of the ash or maple.



Scarf-bark.= The thin, outermost layer which often peels off.



Segment.= One of the divisions into which a plane organ, such as a

leaf, may be divided.



Sepal.= A calyx leaf.



Serrate.= With teeth inclining forward.



Serrulate.= With small teeth inclining forward.



Sessile.= Not stalked, as when the leaf blade or flower rests directly

upon the twig.



Simple leaf.= Not compound, having one blade not jointed with its stem.



Sinuate.= Strongly wavy-margined.



Sinus.= Interval between two lobes or divisions of a leaf; sometimes

sharp-angular, sometimes rounded.



Spatulate.= Gradually narrowed downward from a rounded summit.



Spike.= A cluster of sessile or nearly sessile lateral flowers on an

elongated axis.



Spray.= The smaller branches and ultimate branchlets of a tree taken as

a whole.



Stamens.= The pollen-bearing organs of a flower, each stamen consisting

of a filament (stem) and anther which contains the pollen.



Staminate.= Having stamens.



Sterile.= Variously applied: to flowers with stamens only; to stamens

without anthers; to anthers without pollen; to ovaries not producing

seed, etc.



Stigma.= Part of pistil which receives the pollen.



Stipels.= Appendages to a leaflet, analogous to the stipules of a leaf.



Stipules.= Appendages of a leaf, usually at the point of insertion.



Striate.= Streaked, or very finely ridged lengthwise.



Style.= Part of pistil uniting ovary with stigma; often wanting.



Sucker.= A shoot of subterranean origin.



Suture.= The line of union between parts which have grown together;

most often used with reference to the line along which an ovary opens.



Terete.= Cylindrical.



Ternate.= In threes.



Tomentose.= Densely pubescent or woolly.



Truncate.= As if cut off at the end.



Umbel.= An inflorescence in which the flower stems spring from the same

point like the rays of an umbrella.



Verticillate.= Arranged in a circle round an axis; whorled.



Villose= or =villous.= With long, soft hairs.



Whorl.= Arranged in a circle about an axis.



More

;