EXPLANATION Ol^^ HOTANICAL T1:KMS 



The object of these pages is to give as hrietiy as possible a simi)le 

 explanation of those botanical terms most fre(juently used in desLribing 

 plants. 



THE ROOT 



Rootstock : a creeping stem, growing below the surface of the ground. 

 Tuber: a thick portion of a rootstock, usually possessing eyes like 



a potato. 

 Co))}! : the thick fleshy base of a stem. 

 Bulb: an underground stem covered with scales. 

 Stolo)i : a basal branch, rooting at the nodes. 



THE ERUIT 



Achene : a dry one-seeded fruit. 



Berry : a pulpy fruit. 



Capsule : a dry fruit with two or more carpels. 



Drupe : a single fruit, with a fleshy outer wall and a bony inner wall. 



Plumose: resembling a plume, like the Clematis in seed. 



Sterile : w-ithout seed. 



THE STEM 



Ereet : upright. 

 Simple: not branched. 



Decumbent : horizontal on the ground, but vertical at tlie end. 

 Procumbent : flat on the ground. 



Creeping: running along the earth and rooting at the joints. 

 Scape: the leafless flower-stalk of a stemless plant. 



Node: the junction of two portions of the stem, often hard ami swollen, 

 at which leaves are usually borne. 



THE LEAE 



Bract : a leaf subtending a flower. 



Ini'olucre: a circle of bracts round a flower, as in the Sunflower. 



Pntire : one the edge of which is not cut or lobed. 



