GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TEEMS 



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Obovate: Reverse egg shaped (ovate) ; 

 in longitudinal section, with the 

 broader end forward or uppermost. 

 (Fig. 44, G.) Used of flat or 2- 

 diniensional figures. 



Figure 44. — Three common shapes or 

 outlines of leaves (see also Figures 

 34, 38. 43, 62, 63. and 73) : A, Oblong; 

 B, orate ; C, obovate 



Obovoid : Reverse ovoid, or egg-shaped, 

 with the broader end foremost or 

 uppermost. Used of solid, or 3-di- 

 mensional, objects. 



Obtuse: Blunt or rounded at the tip; 

 not sharply pointed ; as in the ovate 

 leaf shown in Figure 44, B. 



Ochroleucous : Yellowish white ; cream 

 colored. 



Ocreae: Literally, boots; a term ap- 

 plied to the characteristic membra- 

 nous, sheathing, united stipules of 

 the buckwheat family (Polygo- 

 naceae). 



Offset: A form of short runner; a 

 short basal prostrate lateral branch 

 which roots at the tip and eventually 

 tends to produce a separate indi- 

 vidual plant. 



Ontogeny: The life history or develop- 

 ment of an individual plant or ani- 

 mal, as opposed to phylogeny, or the 

 study of a group. 



Oospore: In nonflowering plants (cryp- 

 togams), where alternation of gen- 

 eration occurs, the egg cell 

 (oosphere), after it is sexually ferti- 

 lized, develops a hardened outer wall 

 of cellulose and (usually) goes into 

 a resting stage (the oospore). From 

 it germinates the sporophyte, which 

 is the (usually more conspicuous) 

 plant which produces asexual spores. 



Op. cit.: Work already cited (Latin, 

 opere citato). 



Opposite: Arranged in pairs, at an 

 angle of 180° ; i. e., on opposite sides 

 of a stem. Said especially of leaves 

 and branches. The leaflets shown in 

 Figure 55, B, are opposite. See 

 alternate and whorled. Leaf and 

 branch arrangement are among the 



fundamental ways of distinguishing 

 plants vegetatively, i. e., apart from 

 sexual characters (flowers and 

 fruit). 



Orbicular, or orbiculate: More pre- 

 cisely, a term applicable to 3-dimen- 

 sional, or solid objects and synony- 

 mous with spherical or globose; in 

 botany, however, through long usage, 

 usually applied to 2-dimensional 

 (plane) objects circular in outline 

 or nearly so, as an orbicular (orbicu- 

 late) leaf. 



Organ: A member; a plant (or ani- 

 mal) part having a special function 

 or functions; e. g., a root, a leaf, a 

 pistil, a stamen. 



Oval: Broadly elliptical. Some au- 

 thors, however, have used oval as a 

 synonym of ovate. 



Ovary: The organ (fig. 45, d) in which 

 are borne the ovules, or rudimentary 

 seeds ; usually a basal cavity in the 

 pistil. It is 

 found only in 

 angiosperms. 



Ovate: Having 

 the outline of a 

 h e n's egg in 

 longitudinal 

 section, with 

 the broader end 

 downward or 

 inward. ( Fig. 

 44, B. ) A term 

 used in de- 

 scribing 2 - di- 

 mensional, or 

 plane, objects 

 such as a leaf. 



Ovoid: Shaped 

 like a hen's egg 

 and with the 



broader end downward or innermost. 

 A term used in describing solid, or 

 3-dimensional parts, such as a fruit. 



Ovule: A rudimentary seed occurring 

 in the ovary. (Fig. 45, c.) 



Palatability: An expression of the rela- 

 tive relish with which food is con- 

 sumed. Specifically, in Forest Serv- 

 ice range management, reconnais- 

 sance, and research, the degree to 

 which the herbage within easy reach 

 of livestock is grazed when a range 

 is properly utilized under the best 

 practicable range management. The 

 percentage of the readily accessible 

 herbage of a species that is grazed 

 when the range is properly utilized 

 determines the palatability of the 

 species. 



Palea: A chaffy bract; specifically (1) 

 the chaffy bract which often occurs 

 in a grass floret opposite the lemma 



Figure 45. — Pistil, 

 • or female floral 

 portion of the 

 flower of a cucur- 

 bit (such as a 

 melon) : a, Lobed 

 stigma ; 6, style ; 



c, ovules (borne on 

 axile placenta) in 



d, ovary 



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