VOCABULARY, 



OR 



EXPLANATION OF BOTANICAL TERMS.* 



A. 



A, in composition, signifies privation, o 

 destitute of; as, acaulis, referring to 

 plant without a caulis or stem. 



Abortive flower. Falling off without pro- 

 ducing any fruit. 



stamens, not furnished with an 



Defective in some essen 

 Not becoming perfec 



through want of the fertilizing innuenc 

 of the pollen. 



Abrupt' leaf. A pinnate leaf with an odd 

 or terminal leafet. 



Acal'ycea. (From o, signifying without 

 and calyx, a flower cup.) A class in an 

 ancient method of arrangement, consist 

 in of plants without a calyx. 



.icnu Irx. (From a, wanting, and caulis, a 

 stem.) The 20th class in Magnolius' me- 

 thod, including plants without stems. 



Accra' st leaf. Linear and permanent, as 

 in the pine. 



Acic'ular. Needle shaped. 



A'cinus. A small berry which, with many 

 others, composes the fruit of the mulber- 

 ry and raspberry ; the plural is acini. 



Acotyled'onous. (From a, without, and co- 

 tyledon, a seed lobe.) Plants destitute ot 

 seed lobes, and which consequently [tut 

 Ibrth no seminal or seed leaves, as mosses 

 and ferns. 



Acu'leu*. (From ociw, a needle.) A 

 prickle, or sharp point ; common to thi 

 rose and raspberry. It dirters from the 

 thorn in being a prolongation of the 

 outer bark of the plant, and unconnected 

 with the wood. Prickles have been 

 compared to the nails and claws of ani- 



iJld'versifo'lia. (From advernu, opposite, 

 and folium, a leaf.) Plants whose leave* 

 stand opposite to each other, on the same 

 stem or branch. Name of the 5th claw 

 in Sauvage's Methodus foliorum (me- 

 thod of leaves), as exemplified in the la- 

 biate flowers. 



JEstiva'les. (From astaa, summer.) 

 Plants which blossom in summer. The 

 second division of Da Pas' method, with 

 reference to the four seasons of the year, 

 cnii-isting of herbs which blossom in 

 summer. 



A' fora. (From a, without, and fores, a 

 door.) Having no doors or valves. The 

 name of a class in CameriuB' method, 

 consisting of plants whose pericarp or 

 seed vessel is not furnished with internal 

 valves. 



ga'moHs. (From a, without, and games, 

 marriage.) A term derived from the in- 

 delicate notions of the botanists of the 

 last century, respecting the sexual di* 

 tinriions of plants; and which, what 

 ever analogies may actually exist be- 

 i \\ren the variable and animal king- 

 doms, should as far as possible be exclu- 

 ded from the science. Were it to be 

 otherwise, the study of botany ought to 

 he limited to the medical profession* Of 

 all studies, that of botany should be un- 

 accompanied by aught that might pain 

 or disgust a delicate mind. Plants with- 

 out any visible stamens or pistils are by 

 French botanists called agamous. 



Acu'minate. Abruptly sharp pointed, hav- 

 ing the point curved towards one edge of 

 the leaf, resembling an awl. 



Acute. More gradually sharp pointed than 

 acuminate. An obtuse angle or any 

 other mathematical angle, is acute in bo- 

 tanical language. 



Adel'phous* (From the Greek adelphos, a 

 brother or an equal.) Applied to plants 

 whose stamens are united by their lila- 

 ments, whether in one or two sets. 



Adnate. Growing together. 



a'ges of plants. Ephemeral are such as 

 spring up, blossom and ripen their seed 

 in a few hours or days ; annual live a 

 few months or one summer. 

 biennial, spring up one summer and di 

 the following. 

 ]>i'rtnnial,\ive an indefinite period. 



Ig'gregate. (From aggrtgare, to assem- 

 ble.) Many springing from the samo 

 point : this term was at first applied to 

 compound flowers, but there is at present 

 a sevenfold division of aggregate flow- 

 ers ; the aggregate, properly so called ; 

 compound, 

 umbellate, 

 cymose, 

 amentaceous, 

 glumose, 

 upadiceou*. 



* The author, in preparing the following vocabulary, coaaultsd -/, Thorn**, 

 Xrrbti and Eaton. 



