GLOSSARY 



Accessory fruit, — ^A fruit formed chiefly by some other part of the flower 



than the ovary; example, apple or strawberry. 

 Achene. — A dry fruit containing a single seed, and not splitting open at 



maturity; example, buttercup, dandelion. 

 Aggregate fruit. — A fruit formed by the ripening of a number of separate 



pistils of a single flower; example, raspberry. 

 Aleurone grain. — Protein particles found in the outside cells of cereal 



grains. 

 Algae. — Cjeneral term applied to the chlorophyll-bearing thallus plants; 



example, seaweeds and pondscums. 

 Alkaloid. — An alkaline vegetable substance, often employed as a drug; 



example, quinine. 

 Amino acid. — A simple organic compound, containing carbon, hydrogen, 



oxygen and nitrogen; basic constituents of proteins. 

 Angiosperms. — The group of seed plants (Spermatophyta) reproducing 



by flowers and fruits; examples, elms and roses. 

 Annual. — Completing the entire life cycle from seed to seed in the same 



year, and dying at its termination. 

 Anther idium. — ^The male sex organ of thallus plants, mosses and ferns, 



in which sperms are produced. 

 Antitoxin. — ^Antibodies, or chemical substances produced in animal 



bodies to neutralize the effects of bacterial poison, or toxins. 

 Aquatic. — Living in the water. 

 Archegonium. — ^The female sex organ found in thallus plants, mosses 



and ferns; in which an egg is produced. 

 Ascus. — ^The sac-like spore-producing structure characteristic of the sac 



fungi. 

 Autotrophic. — Pertaining to organisms or metabolism characterized by 



an ability to transform inorganic materials into organic ones; i.e., to 



be able to synthesize food. 

 Axil. — The junction of a leaf stalk or bud with the stem from which it 



arises. 

 Axillary. — Arising in the axils of leaves. 



Bacillus. — A rod-shaped bacterial cell. 



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