Provided by "Sharon Yiesla, Horticultural Services"
A-C
Achene: A dry, single-seeded, indehiscent fruit with a thin and close fitting wall attached to the seed at one point. It is derived from an inferior ovary and has no pappus attached.
Acuminate: refers to a tip whose sides taper out to an extended point.
Aggregate (fruit): A fruit derived from several ovaries that fuse together after fertilization.
Alternate (leaves, buds, etc): arranged singly at the nodes, at different heights and on different sides of the stem.
Anther: The portion of the stamen (male structure) which produces the pollen.
Basal: Arising from or attached to the base of the plant.
Berry: A fleshy fruit with multiple seeds; septa (walls) may be present inside the fruit. Example: grape, tomato.
Bilabiate: two-lipped (used to describe a flower)
Bipinnately compound: referring to a compound leaf that is twice divided, with each leaflet divided into a stalk of smaller leaflets. Example: Kentucky Coffeetree.
Bract: A modified leaf (often reduced in size).
Bud: A growing point of the plant. An immature leaf, flower or shoot wrapped in a protective covering.
Bud scale: The protective covering on a bud.
Bundle scars: Marks within the leaf scar that show where the leaf and stem were attached via the vascular system.
Calyx: Refers to the sepals as a group.
Capsule: A dry fruit derived from multiple (ovaries); capsules open (in various ways) to release the seeds. Example: Poppy, snapdragon, lily, rose of Sharon.
Catkin: An inflorescence with unisexual flowers, without petals, in a spike-like cluster; often pendulous. Example: birch, oak, walnut.
Compound (leaf): A leaf composed of two or more leaflets.
Cordate: Heart-shaped
Corolla: Refers to the petals as a group.
Corymb: A broad, flat-topped, inflorescence in which the outer flowers open first.
Cyathium: A specialized inflorescence found in some members of the Euphorbia family. It contains small, unisexual flowers crowded together and enclosed in bract-like structures.
Cyme: A compound inflorescence, often flat-topped, with the main axis terminating in a single flower which opens before the lateral flowers. Example: arrowwood viburnum.
Cypsela: A dry, single-seeded, indehiscent fruit that is derived from a superior ovary and which has pappus attached. Common in the Sunflower family (Asteraceae).