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Glossary of Plant Terms




Definitions to assist you in understanding garden and plant terms used on this web site.

 
Acid soil A description of the soil's pH. Acidic soils have a pH below 7.0 
Acorn The nutlike fruit of oaks. A favorite food source for squirrels. 
Acuminate Tapering to a point, like a palm leaf. 
Acute Short tapered, sharp tip, but less tapering than acuminate. 
Alkaline soil A description of the soil's pH. With a pH value of more than 7.0. 
Alternate Arising from different points and on opposite sides, of an axis, or stem. Only one leaf per node. 
Angiosperm Plants whose seeds are enclosed within an ovary. The flowering plants that evolved toward the end of the dinosaur age, previously mostly Conifers and Ferns.  
Anther The pollen bearing terminal part of a stamen. See illustration in Parts of a Flower below. 
Annual A plant that completes its life cycle in one year or season. 
Apex The tip or growing point, the upper or outer end. 
Arbor A framework of two wood or metal trellises, about three or four feet apart with a frame roof, meant for climbing plants or vines to grow on, and used as garden entrance or stand alone door way.
Arboretum A place where trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants are cultivated in to a landscape for scientific study, educational purposes, and to foster appreciation of plants.
Aril The exterior covering or appendage of some seeds that develops after fertilization as an outgrowth from the ovule stalk such as a Yew
Aristate The tip is a stiff, sharp bristle as found on spruce trees.
Axil The junction between a stem and a leaf. An axil will contain an axillary bud, which may develop into a new shoot or replacement leaf.
illustration of an axil.
Axis The area between a leaf and the stem from which the leaf arises.
Basal Originating from the base or root.
Berry A fleshy indehisent pulpy succulent fruit, with seeds immersed with-in.
Bipinnate Doubly pinnate or compound twice pinnate.
Blade The broad, flat part of a leaf.
Bract Modified leaf, or leaf-like structure that grows below a flower or cluster of flowers that is often colorful, usually associated with an inflorescence.   Bracts may resemble normal leaves or be reduced and scalelike in appearance. Colored bracts attract pollinators and are often mistaken for petals.  Poinsettia and flowering dogwood are examples of plants with prominent bracts.
Capsule Thin walled dry fruit containing two or more seeds and commonly dehiscent.
Catkin Compact pendulous spike of unisexual flowers, as in Beeches Birches, Willows, Poplars, Oaks, Walnuts and Filberts.
Caudate Having a slender appendage that resembles a tail.
Chlorotic Chlorophyll deficient, usually yellow in color
Clay A miniscule soil particle less than .002 mil. in diameter that easily compacts.
Cleft A leaf cut in about halfway to the midrib as in a Maple or Sycamore.
Cold Hardy Capable of withstanding cold weather conditions.
Cold Hardiness The degree of cold weather conditions a plant or tree can withstand.
Compound leaf Leaf's blade that is divided into two or more leaflets.
Cone Conical woody fruit consisting of seed-bearing, overlapping scales around a central axis.
Conifers Plants that pre-date true flowering plants or angiosperms, in evolution; conifers lack true flowers and produce seperate male and female strobili or cones.  Some conifers, such as yews, have fruits enclosed in a fleshy aril.
Coppice The pruning of the tops of plants and trees to encourage sucker shoots when the bark is desirable like cinnamon.
Coppicing The pruning of a tall tree at the top of the trunk, removing all branches to allow new branches to grow on a much smaller tree with a large trunk
Cordate Heart shaped, like the leaves of a Red Bud tree. 
Coriaceous A leathery texture like the leather leaf viburnum, or underside of southern magnolia leaves. 
Crown Parts of the tree above the root at soil level, root crown, or parts of the tree above the trunk, including leaves, branches and scaffold, limbs. 
Crownshaft A tight bundle of very erect leaf bases that form a green pillar at the top of the woody trunk. 
Cultivar A cultivated variety of a plant selected for some feature that distinguishes it from the species from which it was selected. 
Cuneate Wedge-shaped or triangular, attached at the narrowest point.
Deciduous Having leaves that fall off or are shed seasonally to avoid adverse weather conditions such as cold or drought.
Deltoid An equilateral triangular leaf or formation attached at the center or one side.
Dentate Having teeth perpendicular to the margin, or pointing outward from the margin.
Dioecious Female and male flowers are on separate plants, plants that need pollinators to produce fruit or berries.
Doubly serrate leaves leaves with large teeth and small teeth in an alternating pattern.
Drupe A fleshy fruit containing a stone. A one-seeded fruit which contains a single stone that contains the seed, like a Peach or Plum.
Elliptic Elongately oval, about twice as long as wide, and broadest at the middle.
Emarginate Having a shallow notch at the apex.
Entire Margins Undivided and with no teeth or serration.
Falcate Asymetrical and shaped like a sickle.
Frond Describes the type of leaves on palms and ferns.
Fruit The organ that produces the seeds.
Glabrous Smooth, having no texture or fibers.
Hardscape Areas of soil covered by pavers, stone, or concrete, like sidewalks and driveways, also includes retaining walls.
Herbaceous Having little or no woody tissue.  Most plants grown as perennials or annuals are herbaceous.
Hybrid A plant that is the result of cross breeding, or a group of plants that results from the interbreeding of two distinct cultivars, varieties, species, or genera.
Indehiscent Not opening to release it's contents such as an immature or undried seed pod
Inflorescence A floral axis that contains many individual flowers in a specific arrangement or flower cluster like a Hydrangea.
Lanceolate Lance shaped, much longer than broad, pointed at the tip and widest near the base.
Leaf Outgrowth from the stem that may consist of two parts, the stalk or petiole and the blade or leaf proper, which may be single or divided into leaflets.
Leaflet A segment of a compound leaf.
Legume A dry pod-like fruit, belonging to member of the Bean and Pea Family, usually dehiscent, opening along longitudinal suture.
Lenticel A corky area on or in a stem or other part of a plant, which acts as a gas exchange pore.
Linear Growing long and narrow with opposomg sides on a central spine or stem like feathers.
Loam Textural name for soils having moderate amounts of sand, silt and clay which have been conditioned through root growth, worm and insect presence, and composted leaf litter fallen from above.
Lobe Any protruding part of an organ, as in an oak leaf. Having the edge of the leaf deeply but not completely divided.
Midrib The central rib of a leaf or other organ.
Monoecious A plant that needs no pollinator, both male and female flowers are borne on the same plant.
Mucronate The projection of the mid rib of a leaf having a hard, small point.
Native Plant A plant that lives or grows naturally in a particular region without direct or indirect human intervention.
Node The point on stem where one or more leaves and/or buds are attached.
Nut A dry indehiscent fruit with a thick, hard shell, can be one-seeded, or multi chambered, and usually edible.
Oblong Longer than wide with nearly parallel edges, oval with pointed ends and wider than linear.
Obovate Inversely ovate, broader at the tip, narrow near the stalk.
Obtuse Having a blunt or rounded leaf apex.
Opposite Arrangement of leaves that arise in pairs at each node that are not alternate, or whorled.
Oval Broad-elliptic, one and a half times as long as wide and rounded at the ends.
Ovate Shaped like an egg and attached at the wider end.
Palmate Lobes shaped and divided like the fingers on a hand with veins, like a Fig leaf.
Palmately compound Small leaves or leaflets radiating out from a single point like a Sedge Grass, or Japanese Palm.

Parts of a Flower 1
1 - filament picture showing parts of a flower
2 - anther
3 - stigma
4 - style
5 - petal
6 - ovary
7 - sepal
8 - pedicel
9 - stamen
10 - pistil
11 - perianth
Peduncle The stalk of a flower cluster. 
Peltate Shield shaped, with the stalk attached near the middle instead of the base or margin
Pendulous Pendulum like, hanging or weeping
Perennial Persisting for several years, usually dying back to a perennial crown during the winter and initiating new growth each spring. 
Perfect A bisexual flower having both male and female parts.
Petiole The stalk that connects a leaf blade to the stem
Pinna The primary division of a compound leaf.
Pinnate A feather like group of leaflets arranged on both sides of a central axis.
Pod A one celled fruit, splitting along natural grooved lines, with thicker wall than a capsule.
Pome A fleshy fruit from a compound ovary that is indehiscent .
Pubescent A fuzzy texture or covered in short hair like African Violet leaves.
Revolute Backwards or downwards curved leaf margins that curve in the direction of the underside.
Sagittate Shaped like the head of an arrow with downward turned basal lobes.
Samara A single winged one seeded fruit like that of a Silver Maple.
Serrate The term to describe the edge of a leaf that is like the teeth on a saw, or a shark.
Shrub A low-growing woody plant, usually under 15 feet that often has multiple stems and may have a suckering growth habit.
Simple A single bladed undivided leaf, unbranched, not compound.
Stalk The stem or petiole of a leaf, flower or other plant organ.
Stamen The male part of a flower, consisting of a threadlike filament and a pollen-bearing anther.
Succulent Includes most of the cactus family as well as many other plants that have leaves, or organs, that are soft, fleshy, and juicy.
Syconium A fleshy receptacle, which contain unisexual flowers, borne inside the fruit, like the ficus family.
Taxonomy The study of the general principles of scientific classification, especially the orderly classification of plants and animals according to their presumed natural relationships.
Tree A woody perennial plant having a single, usually elongated main stem or trunk with few or no branches on its lower part.
Wildflower A herbaceous plant that is native to a given area and is representative of unselected forms of its species. 
Woody Plant A plant with persistent woody parts that do not die back in adverse conditions.  Most woody plants are trees or shrubs. 
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