GLOSSARY OF TERMS 



acute — ending in a point less than a right angle. 

 Adios, senor — (Spanish) Good day, sir. 

 anther — the pollen-bearing body at the tip of the stamen. 

 areola — area or center of growth. 



ascending — growing upward at an angle of forty or fifty degrees. 

 ascending spreading — growing at an angle of less than forty degrees. 

 awl-shaped — sharp-pointed from a broader base. 

 bajadas — mesalike mountain slopes. 

 Bisnaga — Barrel Cacti. 

 bract — a scale or small leaf. 

 Buenas noches — (Spanish) Good night. 

 bulbous — somewhat thickened or bulblike. 



Cactace^e — the botanical name for cacti or the cactus family of plants. 

 calyx tube — the tube formed by the union of the sepals. 

 candelabralike — with the branches growing somewhat regularly out- 

 ward and upward. 

 central spines, or centrals — the inner spines of a spine cluster. 

 ciliate — ^with a fringe of hairs. 

 compressed — flattened on opposite sides. 

 constricted — contracted at regular intervals. 

 corona — a crownlike circle or whorl of flower parts. 

 creosote — a desert shrub. 

 cross-ridged — marked transversely. 

 deflexed — bent downwards. 

 dished — concave or sunken in the center. 

 divergent — spreading. 



dwarf trees — plants smaller than trees but with a main trunk. 

 elliptical — oval or oblong with the ends rounded. 

 filaments — the threadlike stalks of stamens. 

 fissure — a furrow caused by the bark splitting. 

 fluted — grooved or channeled vertically. 

 Fuera — (Spanish) Begone, get you gone. 

 genera — plural of "genus." 



genus — a group or division of a family of plants. 



glochidium (plural, glochidia) — a small fine needlelike body, a spicule. 

 mesa — a broad high table-land or plateau. 

 Mojave — a desert in Southern California. 



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