GLOSSARY. 187 
Medullary rays. The plates radiating from pith to bark in ex- 
ogenous stems: appearing as lines, sometimes heavy (oak), 
in cross section. 
Megalospores. The large or female spores of fernworts. - 
Membranaceous. Thin and dry, in contrast with green and 
leaf-like, as applied to scales or bracts. 
-merous. Parted. A suffix used to indicate the number of 
sepals, petals etc. in the flower; as trimerous (3-merous), 
tetramerous (4-merous), pentamerous (5-merous). 
Microspores. The small or male spores of fernworts. 
Midrib. The strong main vein running from base to apex in a 
pinnately veined leaf, like that of chestnut or apple. 
Milky. Colored, usually white, when applied to the sap of trees. 
Monadelphous. Stamens united by their lower part into a ring 
or tube, as in hollyhock. 
Monocotyledons. Angiosperms with a single seed-leaf (smilax). 
Monoecious. Imperfect flowers, the sexes on one individual 
(oak). 
Monopodial. Continuing the growth from a terminal bud, as 
applied to twigs: in contrast with sympodial. 
Moss-like. Used loosely to indicate a compact or matted habit 
of growth associated with small overlapping leaves. 
Mucilaginous. Exemplified by the bark of slippery elm, the 
leaves of sassafras, etc., when chewed. 
Mucronate. With a short stiff abrupt point. 
Mucronulate. Minutely mucronate. 
Naked. Without calyx or corolla, as applied to flowers: without 
specialized protecting scales, as applied to buds. , 
Nectar-glands. Glands that secrete a sugary fluid; as in many 
flowers, on the leaf-stalk of the plum, on the calyx of paeony 
and trumpet-creeper, in the angles between the midrib and 
principal veins of the lower side of a catalpa leaf, on the 
teeth of an ailanthus leaf, etc. Ants frequently point the 
way to them. 
Needle. A common name for the phylloid shoot or “leaf” of 
pines. 
Needle-like. Long, slender, and about as thick as broad. 
