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GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS 



Petiolule. Stalk of a leaflet. 



Phalanges (plural of phalanx). The groups or bundles of 

 stamens in diadelphous or polyadelphous flowers. 



Phenogam, phenogamous. Flowering plants; seed-bearing 

 plants (as distinguished from spore-bearing, or cryp- 

 togams). 



Phyllodium. Leaf-like petiole and no blade, as in some 

 acacias and other plants. 



Phyllotaxy. Order of arrangement of leaves on the stem. 



Phytology. The study of plants, particularly of the kinds 

 or species; botany. 



Pileate, pileiform. With the form of a pileus or rimless 

 cap ; in particular, pertaining to the cap of a mushroom. 



Pinna. A primary division or leaflet of a pinnate leaf. 



Pinnate. Feather-formed ; with the leaflets of a compound 

 leaf placed on either side of the rachis. 



Pinnatifid. Cleft or parted in a pinnate (rather than pal- 

 mate) way. 



Pinnatipartite. Pinnately-parted. 



Pinnatisect. Cut down to the midrib in a pinnate way. 



Pinnule. A secondary pinna or leaflet in a pinnately 

 decompound leaf. 



Pip. A perpendicular or upright small rootstock used in 

 propagation, as of lily-of-the-valley. 



Pisiform. Pea-shaped; pea-like. 



Pistil. The ovule-bearing and seed-bearing organ. 



Pistillate. Having pistils and no stamens; female. 



Pitted. Having little depressions or cavities. 



Placenta. Part or place in the ovary where ovules are 

 attached. 



Plaited. Folded lengthwise, as a closed fan. 



Plane. Evenly flat, rather than wrinkled, folded, grooved 

 or otherwise. 



Platys. In Greek combinations, signifying broad or wide. 



Plumose. Plumy; feather-like; with fine hairs, as the pap- 

 pus of some composites. 



Plumule. The bud in the embryo. 



Plur-annual. Of one season's duration only because 

 killed by frost. 



Pod. A dehiscent dry pericarp. 



Pollen. Spores or grains borne by the anther, containing 

 the male element; sometimes it is not granular. 



Pollination. The mechanical or physical operation of 

 transfering pollen from stamen to pistil. 



Polliniferous. Bearing-pollen. 



Pollinium. A coherent mass of pollen, as in orchids and 

 milkweeds. 



Poly-. In Greek combinations, signifying numerous or many. 



Polyadelphous. The stamens in many bundles or fascicles. 



Polygamous. Bearing imperfect and hermaphrodite 

 flowers on the same plant. 



Polymerous. Of many parts or series. 



Pome. Fruit of apple, pear, quince, etc. 



Porose. With small holes, pores or perforations. 



Posterior. At or toward the back; opposite the front; 

 toward the axis; away from the subtending bract. 



Prsefoliation. Arrangement of leaves in the bud; vernation. 



Prsemorse, Jagged ; as if bitten off. 



Prickle. A small and weak spine-like body borne irregu- 

 larly on the bark or epidermis. 



Prismatic. Prism-shaped: with plane sides separated by 

 angles, body of nearly uniform size throughout, and 

 with similar end-sections. 



Process. An extension of any surface or part beyond the 

 main outline. 



Procumbent. Trailing or lying flat, but not rooting. 



Proliferous. Bearing offshoots or redundant parts; bear- 

 ing other similar structures on itself. 



Proterandrous. Anthers maturing before pistils. 



Proterogynous. Pistils maturing before anthers. 



Pseud-annual. Perennial by means of bulbs, corms, or 

 tubers. 



Pseudo-. In Greek compounds, signifying spurious or false. 



Pseudobulb. The thickened or bulb-form stems of certain 

 orchids, the part being solid and borne above ground. 



Puberulent. Somewhat or minutely pubescent. 



Pubescent. Covered with short, soft hairs; downy. 



Pulverulent. Powdered or dusty. 



Pulvinate. Cushioned; with a cushion-like enlargement or 

 structure, as at the base of some petioles or leaflets. 



Punctate. With translucent or colored dots or depressions 

 or pits. 



Pungent. Ending in a stiff sharp point or tip; also acrid 

 (to the taste). 



Putamen. The hard or bony shell of a nut or of a stone- 

 fruit. 



Pyrene, pyrena. Nutlet, particularly the nutlet in a drupe. 



Pyriform. Pear-formed or -shaped. 



Pyxis. Pod opening or dehiscing by a transverse ring. 



Quadrangular. Four-angled. 



Quaternate. In fours. 



Quincunx. Five plants in a square, one of them being in 



the center. 

 Quintupled. Five times; multiplied by five. 



Raceme. A simple elongated indeterminate cluster with 



stalked flowers. 

 Rachilla, rhachilla. A diminutive or secondary axis, or 



rachis; in particular, in the grasses and sedges the axis 



that bears the florets. 

 Rachis. Axis bearing flowers or leaflets; petiole of a fern 



frond (plural rachides or rachises). 

 Radiate. Standing on and spreading from a common 



center; also, with ray-flowers, as in the Compositse. 

 Radical. Belonging or pertaining to the root. 

 Radicle. The inferior or downward part of the embryo 



below the cotyledons; caudicle. 

 Radix. Root. 



Rameal. Pertaining to a branch or branches. 

 Ramenta. Chaffy loose scales borne on leaves and stems, 



as on the stems of ferns. 



Ramification. The mode or style of branching of a plant. 

 Raphe, rhaphe. The cord or ridge of fibro-vascular tissue 



connecting the hilum and chalaza on a seed (when the 



hilum and chalaza are separated). 

 Ray. Outer modified florets of some composites, with an 



extended or strap-like part to the corolla; also the 



branches of an umbel or umbel-like cluster. 

 Receptacle. Torus; the more or less enlarged or elongated 



end of the stem or flower-axis on which some or all of 



the flower-parts are borne; sometimes the receptacle 



is greatly expanded, as in the Composite; sometimes it 



assumes capsule-like forms, as in the hypanthium of the 



rose. 

 Reclinate, reclining. Bent down or falling back from the 



perpendicular. 

 Recondite. Concealed; difficult to make out; not easily 



recognized. 



Recurved. Bent or curved downward or backward. 

 Reflexed. Abruptly recurved or bent downward or back- 

 ward. 

 Regular flower. With the parts in each series or set alike; as 



stamens all like each other, petals all like each other. 

 Reinforced fruit. With other parts grown to the pericarp. 

 Remote. Separated by spaces longer than common. 

 Reniform. Kidney-shaped. 

 Repent. Creeping; rooting at the joints. 

 Resupinate. Upside down; turned over. 

 Retrorse. Bent or turned over back or downward. 

 Revolute. Rolled backward, margin rolled toward lower 



side. See Involute. 

 Rhachis. See Rachis. 

 Rhaphe. See Raphe. 



Rhizome. Underground stem; rootstock. 

 Rhizos. In Greek compounds, signifying root. 

 Rib. In a leaf or similar organ, the primary vein; also 



any prominent vein or nerve. 

 Rimose. With cracks or chinks. 

 Ringent. Gaping; said of labiate flowers with an open 



throat or mouth. 

 Rootstock. Subterranean stem; rhizome. 



