Glossary
of
Plant Terms
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Alternate: Leaves placed singly one above the other, usually on alternate sides of the stem. Annual: A plant that lives only one year or season. The plant must grow from seed each year. Anther: The part of the stamen which contains pollen. Auricle: Small ear-like projections. Found at the junction of the blade and the sheath in grasses. Awn: A slender, stiff, bristle-like extension of a plant part, such as the beard on wheat. Bearded: Having long or stiff hairs arranged in a row or tuft. Berry: A fruit which is fleshy throughout. |
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Biennial: A plant which completes its life cycle in two years. Usually has leaves and stores food in underground parts the first year and then blooms, produces seeds and dies the second year.
Blade: The flat, expanded part of a leaf that is above the sheath and away from the stem.
Bract: A reduced or modified leaf, often below a flower or flower cluster.
Bulb: An underground leaf bud enwrapped in fleshy scales or coats.
Bunch grass: A grass which forms a more or less circular, compact bunch.
Calyx: The outer part of the floral envelope (perianth). Composed of the sepals and usually green in color. A collective term for the sepals.
Clasping: Surrounding or partially wrapping around a stem.
Collar: The portion of the leaf where the sheath and leaf join.
Cordate: Heart-shaped.
Corolla: The inner part of the floral envelope (perianth), immediately surrounding the stamens. Composed of petals and often brightly colored. A collective term for the petals.
Corymb: A flat-topped or convex flower cluster with the outer flowers blooming first.
Culm: The stem or stalk of a grass or sedge. Usually has a seed head at the top.
Cyme: A flat-topped or convex flower cluster with the central flowers blooming first.
Decreaser: A plant that decreases in abundance under grazing.
Decumbent: The stems or branches recline on the ground, but the seed head is upright.
Decurrent: Extending downward from the point of attachment.
Dentate: A toothed leaf margin with the teeth projecting outward.
Disturbed: Habitats impacted by settlement.
Escaped: Plants that have been cultivated, but spread from that location into the wild.
Family: A taxonomic category higher than a genus. A group of plants with biologically similar features. For plants, family names end in -aceae.
Filament: The part of the stamen which supports the anther. The stalk of the stamen.
Floret: Small, individual flower. The ray and disc florets make up the compound flower in the Sunflower Family (Asteraceae), while the lemma, palea and included flower make up a floret in a grass plant.
Flower: The reproductive part of a plant. It is usually composed of petals, sepals, stamens, and a pistil.
Forb: A perennial, broad-leafed herb found in prairie vegetation. Forbs have solid stems and generally have broad, net veined leaves. Their flowers are often large, colorful, and showy.
Fruit: The ripe seed, berry, or grain.
Genus: A group of closely related species. Ranks next above the species and next below the family. The genus name is capitalized and immediately precedes the species name in a scientific description of an organism.
Glabrate: Nearly hairless, smooth.
Glumes: The lowermost and empty bracts at the base of a grass spikelet. Usually there are two.
Grass: Plants of the family Poaceae (Gramineae). Grasses are characterized by rounded, hollow or pithy jointed stems (culms), and narrow sheathing leaves with parallel veins. The leaves alternate on two sides of the stem. The junction of the blade and sheath often bears an erect fringe of hairs (ligule) and sometimes also earlike projections (auricles). Flowers are borne in reduced spikes (spiklets).
Head: A dense cluster of stalkless (sessile) or nearly stalkless flowers that arise from a common point.
Herb: A plant whose above-ground stem does not survive the winter. A non-woody plant.
Herbaceous: Having the character of a herb.
Increaser: A plant that increases in abundance under grazing.
Inflorescence: The whole flowering portion of a plant. The flower cluster.
Infusion: A tea made by pouring boiling water over a substance. Steeping.
Internodes: The part of the stem between two successive nodes or joints.
Introduced: Grasses which have been brought in from outside North America and are not in the original vegetation.
Invaders: Plants which come into areas after the climax vegetation has been diminished by overgrazing, drought, fire, or other disturbances. Ranges in which these species are abundant are in poor condition.
Leaf: A flat, thin outgrowth of a stem that is usually green in color. It serves as the principal area for the manufacture of food for the plant (photosynthesis).
Legume: A plant of the pea, bean and related families. A simple dry fruit, usually opening along two sides, and containing one row of seeds.
Lemma: The lower bract enclosing the flower of grass.
Ligule: A thin, non-green outgrowth or row of hairs often found on the upper and inner side of the leaf blade where it joins the sheath. Occurs in many grasses and some sedges.
Mid grass: A grass that grows two to four feet tall.
Native: Plants which are native to the North American continent.
Node: A slightly enlarged portion of the stem where leaves, buds, and branches arise.
Opposite: Two leaves arranged in a pair directly across from one another at a node.
Ovary and Ovules: Usually, at the base of the pistil there is an enlarged chamber called the ovary. Within that chamber are the ovules. Each ovule is a female nucleus which develops into a seed when fertilized by the pollen (the male nucleus).
Palatable: Pleasing to the taste, i.e. to the palate.
Palea: The upper bract enclosing the flower of grass.
Panicle: An open, rebranching type of inflorescence. The lower branches are longer than the ones above and the flowers are on stalks (pediceled).
Pedicel: The stem or stalk of an individual flower of an inflorescence.
Perianth: The floral envelope, consisting of the calyx and corolla.
Perennial: Plant that lives for three or more years, producing leaves and stems each year from rootstock, crown buds, or branches.
Petal: One part of the corolla. Often brightly colored and conspicuous.
Petiole: The stalk of a leaf.
Pistil: The female reproductive (seed-bearing) structure of a flower that receives the pollen. Flowers may have one to several pistils.
Pleurisy: Inflammation of the lungs causing a dry cough and painful breathing.
Pollen: The dust-like male spores in the anther.
Prickle: Small, sharp spinelike outgrowth on the surface of a plant.
Prostrate: Lying flat on the surface of the ground.
Pubescent: Covered with short soft hairs.
Raceme: A simple, elongated inflorescence with stalked (pediceled) flowers.
Resinous: Producing or containing a sticky secretion or sap.
Rhizome: An elongated, underground, horizontal stem.
Rosette: A circular and often flattened cluster of basal leaves radiating from a common point.
Root: The underground part of a plant that absorbs water, obtains and stores nutrients, and provides anchoring support in the soil.
Scientific names: There are three parts to a plant's scientific name. The first part is the "genus", which is determined by similarities in morphology, flowering characteristics, or genetic relationships. The second part of the scientific name is the "epithet". The genus and specific epithet together provide the name of the species. Species are also determined by similarities in morphology, flowering characteristics, or genetic relationships. The third part of the scientific name is the "authority". This is the person first credited with naming and describing the plant. Authorities appearing in parentheses had their work revised by a later plant taxonomist whose name follows. Sometimes species are divided into varieties, which is denoted by the abbreviation "var.". A scientific name that is no longer accepted is called a "synonym".
Synonyms are indicated by an equal sign.
Sedge: A grasslike plant with a triangular stem often growing in wet areas.
Sepals: The outermost flower structures which usually enclose the other flower parts. This part of the calyx is usually green, but can sometimes be brightly colored.
Serrate: A leaf margin with sharp teeth pointing forward, like a saw.
Sessile: Without a stalk.
Sheath: The the lower part of the grass leaf which wraps around the stem.
Short grass: A grass that grows less than two feet tall.
Species: The taxanomic category subordinate to a genus. A group of like individuals. The second part of a scientific name identifies a particular species. (See Genus)
Spike: An elongated, unbranched inflorescence with the flowers or spikelets usually stalkless.
Spikelet: A unit of inflorescence in grasses. A small group of grass flowers.
Stamen: The male reproductive (pollen-bearing) structure of a flower, composed of the anther and filament.
Staminode: A sterile stamen.
Stigma: The part of the pistil that receives the pollen.
Stolon: A stem that grow horizontally along the surface of the ground. These above-ground runners take root at the joints or tips, forming new plants
Tall grass: A grass that grows more than four feet tall.
Style: The long, slender portion of the pistil, which in typical cases extends upward from the ovary, is called the style from the Greek word for pillar.
Taproot: The main root extending downward.
Tuber: An enlarged underground stem that serves as a food storage organ.
Tufted: Many stems growing in clusters which are attached at the base and free at the ends.
Umbel: A flat-topped or rounded flower cluster with the flowers on stalks (pedicels) arising from a common point.
Weed: A plant that interferes with the management objectives at a particular location. It is a plant growing where it is not wanted. Under certain situations, the plant may not be totally undesirable.
Whorl: Three
or more leaves, bracts or flowers attached in a circle or ring at the
same point on a stem, like the spokes of a wheel.
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