Glossary of Botanical Terms. 



.Acuminate — tapering to a long 



point. 

 .Acute— simply pointed. 

 Adnate — growing to or upon 



something else. 

 Amplexicaul— stem clasping. 

 Anastomosing — joining up of 



veins. 

 Aphyllous — leafless. 

 Aristate— awned. 

 Aristulate — with a small awn. 

 Articulate — jointed. 

 Ascending — rising upwards as a 



stem. 

 Auriculate — ear-shaped. 



Caducous — falling off. 

 Caespitose — growing in tufts. 

 Capillary — hair like. 

 Capitate — head shaped, with a 



head. 

 Caudate— tailed, with a tail. 

 Chartaceous — paper-like, papery. 

 Chlorenchyma — tissue with green 



chlorophyll. 

 Ciliate — fringed with Cilia, as 



with eye lashes. 

 Clavate — club-shaped, thickened 



upwards. 

 Conduplicate — simply folded. 

 Connate — united or growing 



together. 

 Convolute — inrolled. 

 Cordate — heart-shaped, with 



rounded lobes at the base. 

 Coriaceous — leathery, leather- 

 like. 

 Crustaceous — slightly brittle. 

 Cuneate — wedge-shaped. 

 Cuspidate — tipped with a short 



rigid point. 



Decumbent — reclining with the 

 summit ascending. 



Decurrent — running down. 



Deltoid — in the form of an equi- 

 lateral triangle. 



Dentate — toothed, teeth pointing 

 outwards. 



Denticulate — minutely toothed. 

 Dichotomous — with forked 



branching. 

 Diffuse — loosely spreading. 

 Digitate— arranged like the 



fingers of a hand. 

 Distichous — having two rows. 

 Divaricate — widely spreading 



apart. 

 Divergent — spreading in different 



directions. 

 Dorsal — pertaining to the back. 



Effuse — loosely spreading. 

 Eglandular — without glands. 

 Emarginate — having a notched 



apex. 

 Erect — upright, perpendicular. 

 Evanescent — lasting only for a 



short time. 

 Excurrent — running out. 

 Exserted — projecting beyond. 



Fascicled — in close clusters or 



bundles. 

 Fastigiate — with parallel erect 



clustered branches. 

 Filiform — shaped like threads. 

 Fimbriate — with a fringed 



margin. 

 Flabellate— fan-shaped. 

 Fugacious — falling off or fading 



early. 

 Fusiform — tapering at both ends. 



Geniculate — kneed and bent. 



Gibbous — humped or pouched. 



Girders — supporting bands of 

 Sclerenchyma running in the 

 principal ribs and ridges of 

 a leaf. 



Glabrous — without hairs. 



Glabrescent — becoming hairless. 



Glandulose — with glands. 



Claucous — of a grey blue colour. 



Halophilous — salt loving. 

 Halophytes — plants growing in 

 brackish soils. 



