GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS 



39 



Unguiculate: Clawed; conspicuously 

 narrowed at the base ; as, for ex- 

 ample, the unguiculate petals of 

 catehfly (Silene). 

 Uni-: A prefix (Latin) signifying one. 

 Unifoliolate: A morphologically or 

 genetically compound leaf that is 

 reduced to one leaflet and thus ap- 

 parently is simple. Examples are 

 seen in barberry and viburnum. 

 Unisexual: One-sexed : having the 

 flowers or organs of one sex only — 

 either staminate (male) or pistil- 

 late (female). As the unisexual 

 spikelets of buffalo grass, or the 

 unisexual inflorescence of holly. 

 Urceolate: Urn shaped; as the urceo- 

 late corolla of a manzanita or a 

 huckleberry. 

 Utricle: A small, bladderlike, indehi- 

 scent, 1-celled, usually 1-seeded fruit 

 with a thin, membranous covering 

 (pericarp), as the fruits of the 

 goosefoot family. Chenopodiacese. 

 (Fig. 75.) Also, the small bladders 

 of bladderwort (Utricularia) and of 

 various marine 

 algae. Sometimes 

 also used for the 

 perigynium of the 

 sedge genus, Ca- 

 rex. (From utri- 

 culus, a small 

 uterus, or womb). 

 Utriculate: Provided 



with a utricle. 

 V. i.: See below 

 (Latin, vide in- 

 fra). 

 V. s. : See above 

 (Latin, vide su- 

 pra). 



V. v.: I have seen (the plant) living 

 (Latin, vidi vivam) ; indicating that 

 the plant has been observed in a liv- 

 ing state and not merely as a dried 

 herbarium specimen. 

 Vaginate: Provided with or surround- 

 ed by a sheath (vagina), as the 

 vaginate culm of a grass. 

 Valvate: Opening by valves or provid- 

 ed with valves, as a fruiting cap- 

 sule ; meeting together by the edges 

 without overlapping. 

 Valve: One of the parts or segments 

 into which a dehiscent pod or cap- 

 sule splits, as the two valves of a pea 

 pod. 

 Var. (pi. rars.) : Variety. 

 Varietal: Of or pertaining to a variety. 

 Variety: A division of a species. For 

 example, the white-flowered Aqai- 

 leffiu caerulea albiflora is a variety 

 of the typically blue-flowered Colo- 

 rado columbine (A. ccerulea). Vari- 



FigureTo. — Utri- 

 cle of fourwing 

 saltbush, 

 known in New 

 Mexico as 

 chamiza (Atri- 

 plex cane scene) 



eties are expressed either by trino- 

 mials (3-word names) or by the 

 species name, with authorities, fol- 

 lowed by the varietal name preceded 

 by var. and followed by the vari- 

 etal authority. Thus, the Latin 

 name for the common dwarf, moun- 

 tain, or Siberian juniper might be 

 written either as Juniperus commu- 

 nis sibirica (Burgsd.) Rydb. or as 

 Juniperus communis L. var. sibirica 

 (Burgsd.) Rydb. See subspecies. 



Vascular: Containing vessels or ducts 

 for the transportation of fluids ; 

 vascular tissue is tissue character- 

 ized by the presence of such ducts. 



Vein: One of the fibrovascular bundles 

 forming part of the framework 

 (skeleton) of a leaf; so called be- 

 cause of a fancied resemblance to a 

 human vein. Often a synonym of 

 nerve, but some authors prefer to 

 confine nerve to simple, more or less 

 parallel venations (as in a grass 

 blade). 



Velutinous: Velvety in texture or to 

 the touch, as the velutinous-pubes- 

 cent culms and leaf sheaths of vel- 

 vet grass (XotJwlcus lanatu-s). 



Venation: The arrangement or com- 

 plex of veins in a leaf. 



Ventral: The opposite of dorsal; of or 

 pertaining to that side of a simple 

 pistil or other organ which faces the 

 axis, or center, of a flower ; literally, 

 belonging to the stomach. As the 

 prominent ventral suture of the pod 

 of sheep loco {Astragalus nothorys) . 



Ventricose: Inflated or swollen on one 

 side ; as the ventricose corolla 

 (flower) of certain pentstemons, or 

 the ventricose pod of certain loco 

 weeds and other legumes. 



Vernation: The mode of arrangement 

 of a leaf and its parts in the bud, 

 before unfolding in the spring. 



Verrucose: Beset with wartlike pro- 

 jections, as in the seedlike nutlets 

 of certain borages. More or less 

 synonymous with tuberculate. 



Versatile: Attached near the middle, 

 with the ends more or less freely 

 turnable; said of anthers attached 

 by their middle to the filament, as 

 opposed to those attached by their 

 base (basifixed) or by their entire 

 length (adnate). 



Verticil: An arrangement of three or 

 more leaves or other organs in a 

 circle about a stem or other common 

 axis. (Fig. 76.) The same as 

 whorl. 



Verticillate: Arranged in a verticil, or 

 whorl. (Fig. 76.) 



Vexillum: The topmost petal of a pa- 

 pilionaceous corolla (flower in the 



