WEEDS OF MAINE. 289 



GLOSSARY 



OF THE PEINCIPAL BOTANICAL TERMS EMPLOYED IN THE DESCRIPTIONS. 



Acaulescent : having no apparent stem, stemless. 



Acerose : narrow and needle-like, as the leaves of firs. 



Achenium : a dry seed-like fruit. 



Acoiyledonous : destitute of seed-leaves. 



Acrogenous : growing only from the summit, as in the ferns. 



Acuminate : ending in a narrow tapering point. 



Acute : ending in a sharp point. 



Alternate : not opposite. 



Apefalous : having no petals, destitute of a corolla. 



Appressed : lying flat against, or close to the stem. 



Auriculate: having ear-like lobes at the base. 



Awn: a slender bristle-like appendage, like the beard of barley, 



wheat, &c. 

 Axil: the angle between the leaf and stem, on the upper side. 

 Barb: a straight process, armed with one or more teeth pointing 



backwards. 

 Beak : a process, like the beak of a bird, terminating the fruit of 



certain plants. 

 Biennial : living only two years. 

 Blade : the blade of a leaf. 

 Bract: a small leaf or scale, from the axil of which a flower or 



its pedicel arises. 

 Bristles: short stiff hairs. 



Calyx : the exterior leaves of a flower, usually green. 



Capitate: collected in a head, or a globular mass. 



Capsule: a seed-vessel opening when mature by regular valves. 



Carpel : a simple pistil, or one of the parts of a compound one. 



Cauline: relating, or belonging to the stem. 



Chaff : small membranous scales or bracts on the receptacle of the 

 Asterworts. 



Compound flower : a cluster of flowers on a common receptacle, as 

 in the Dandelion and other Asterworts. 



Compound leaf : a leaf composed of several leaflets articulated to 

 a common petiole — as the clover. 



Cordate: heart-shaped. 



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