X18 
BOTANICAL TERMS. 
BOTANICAL TERMS, 
CHIEFLY APPLIED TO ROOTS OF PLANTS. 
The different kinds of roots are not numer- 
ous : some terms often applied as to roots, 
such as bulbous, tuberous, &c, really belong 
to stems of a peculiar nature. 
Bulbous (Jbulbosus ) ; a term often applied 
to what is called a root ; but what is called a 
bulbous-root is a peculiar kind of leaf-bud 
attached to a thickened stem : the fibres issu- 
ing from the under side of bulbs are the real 
roots. 
Fasciculated ; applied to tubercular roots, 
when they grow in clusters. 
Fibres, fibrils ; the small thread-like, or 
minute subdivisions of the roots ; they are 
little bundles of annular ducts — sometimes of 
spiral vessels — encased in woody fibre, and 
covered with a lax cellular integument. The 
apex, which has the property of absorbing 
fluid with great rapidity, consists of extremely 
lax cellular tissue, and is called the spongiole, 
or spongelet. 
Fibrous; applied to roots when divided 
into a number of slender thread-like filaments, 
or fibres. 
Fusijorm ; applied to roots which are fleshy, 
straight, and tapering more or less to each 
extremity, as in the radish : the term is equi- 
valent to tap-rooted. 
Globose ; this term is applied when the root 
becomes dilated immediately below the base 
of the stem, as in the turnip. 
Granulose ; having small fleshy particles 
intermixed with the fibres ; divided into little 
knobs, or knots, as in some kinds of saxifrage. 
Granular (gramdatus) ; same as granulose. 
Macrorhiza ; large or long rooted. 
Nodulose; applied to fibrous roots having 
occasional dilatations, similar to granulose ; 
this form occurs in some of the vicias. 
Prcemorse (jprcemorsus)', applied when the 
end of a fleshy root is abrupt, and looks as 
if bitten off short. The Scabiosa succisa, 
or devil's bit, is a familiar example of this kind 
of root. 
Radicle (radicula) ; this term is often ap- 
plied indiscriminately to fibrous roots, but the 
root of an embryo is more properly expressed 
by it, and it is convenient to confine it to this 
signification. 
Ramose ; branching, applied when the root 
is divided into a multitude of branches and 
fibres. 
Rhizina, rhizula; terms applied to the 
young roots of mosses and lichens. 
Spindle-shaped ; straight and fleshy, taper- 
ing to both extremities. 
Spongiolex, spongelets ; the absorbing apex 
of the fibres, by whose agency the plant is 
nourished by the food extracted from the 
soil in which it is placed. 
Tubercules ; fleshy roots composed of dis- 
tinct lobes, accompanying the fibrils of some 
plants, and apparently serving as reservoirs of 
nutriment : the roots of the orchis are of this 
kind. 
Tuberous; the term is often applied to 
what is called a root, but the tuber is a kind 
of stem. The so-called root of a potato is a 
tuber. 
Tap-rooted; having fusiform, or spindle- 
shaped roots. 
CHIEFLY APPLIED TO THE PARTS OF THE 
STEM. 
Adventitious; applied to buds which ap- 
pear accidentally, or out of place, that is, in a 
position where buds are not usually produced 
in the particular kind of plant. 
Acaulis ; stemless. Strictly speaking, all 
plants have a stem more or less developed, but 
in some, as in the common gentianella, it is 
very short, and such plants are said to be 
stemless. 
Adnascens, adnatum ; terms applied to the 
little bulbs developed in the axils of the scales 
of which the original bulb is formed, such as 
are called by gardeners, cloves. 
Adnascentia, adnata, appendices ; terms ap- 
plied to a slight modification of the sucker, 
such as the shoots thrown up from the under- 
ground part of the stem of pine-apples. 
Aiguillons ; stalked glands formed on the 
rose and other plants, in the form of rigid 
hairs ; by some improperly called setce. 
Ala ; an old term, synonymous with axil. 
Alburnum; the latest formed, and outer- 
most layer of wood ; the sap-wood situated im- 
mediately beneath the bark. 
Anabices ; a term applied by some to the 
stems of cryptogamic plants. 
Articulate {articulatus) ; jointed ; falling 
in pieces, or separating readily at certain 
points, which are called joints or articulations. 
Sometimes the term is used in reference to 
stems which appear only, and are not in reality 
thus jointed. 
Axil ; the point between two diverging 
branches, or between a leaf and a branch. 
Bacilli ; a term applied to the little stem 
bulbs borne by some plants. 
Bark ; the external ring, or covering, which 
envelopes the stem, lying immediately over 
the wood from which it is separable. 
Brachiate (brachiatus) ; when opposite 
branches diverge at right angles from the 
stem, crossing each other alternately, they are 
said to be brachiate ; four ranked, spreading 
in four directions. 
Branches ; the primary ramifications of the 
