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Glossary of Botanical Terms:

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imbricate: (1) of perianth parts, having their edges overlapping in the bud, see aestivation, Fig. 11 F; (2) of leaves, closely packed and overlapping, Fig. 2 H.

imparipinnate: term describing a pinnate leaf with a single terminal leaflet, and therefore usually with an odd number of leaflets. Fig. 3 C. cf. paripinnate.

in: in nomenclature, where the preceding author published the name in an article or book, authored or edited by the succeeding author.

incised: cut deeply, sharply and often irregularly (an intermediate condition between toothed and lobed).

inclined: orientated at an angle of 45-80°.

included: enclosed, not protruding, e.g. of stamens not projecting beyond the perianth or of valves which do not extend beyond the rim of a capsular fruit. cf. exserted.

incumbent: resting or lying upon.

incurved: of leaf margins, curved inwards or upwards. Fig. 10 B. cf. recurved, involute.

indefinite: variable in number; numerous; of an inflorescence, not terminating in a flower.

indehiscent: not opening at maturity to release seed or pollen.

indeterminate: (1) term describing growth or branching in which the terminal bud persists and produces successive lateral branches; (2) of an inflorescence of part of an inflorescence (=blastotelic), not ending in a flower, i.e. ending in a non-floral bud, e.g. a thyrse, raceme or spike, Fig. 17 C, H & I. cf. determinate.

indigenous: native to the area; not introduced. cf. endemic.

indumentum: a general term for the hairy or scaly covering of plants.

induplicate: of perianth parts, having their edges folded inwards in bud, but without overlapping, see aestivation. Fig. 11 H.

indurated: hardened.

indusium: (1) the tissue covering the sorus of a fern; (2) the pollen-cup of the style of some Goodeniaceae.

inferior ovary: an ovary below the level of attachment of the perianth parts and stamens and completely fused with the hypanthium or at most with a free summit (Fig. 12 B); if less fused see half-inferior (Fig. 12 C). The floral parts of a flower with such an ovary are said to be epigynous.

inflated: swollen; like a bladder.

inflexed: bent inwards.

inflorescence: a general term for the flower-bearing system of a plant, and more particularly for portions of such systems separated from one another by vegetative portions of the plant. Fig. 17.

infraspecific: of taxa, below the level of species

infructescence: the inflorescence in the fruiting stage; the arrangement of fruits, including peduncle, pedicels, bracts and fruit.

inrolled: rolled inwards; see revolute, involute.

insectivorous: trapping and feeding on insects and, by extension, other small invertebrates.

inserted (on): attached to; arising from.

integument: a covering; one of the outer layers of tissue of an ovule.

inter-: a prefix: between, as in interpetiolar stipule, a stipule between the petioles.

intercalary: of a meristem (growing region), situated between regions of permanent tissue, e.g. at the base of nodes and leaves in many monocotyledons.

intercotyledonary inclusion: group of cells or particles between cotyledons.

interfertile: able to interbreed.

intergeneric: between genera, e.g. hybridization.

interjugary: of glands, present on the rachises of bipinnate leaves between the junction of pairs of pinnae or of pinnules. as in some Acacia species. cf. jugary.

intermediate leaves: leaves that develop after the juvenile and before the mature leaves in plants which have dimorphic or trimorphic foliage.

internode: the portion of the stem between two successive nodes.

interpetiolar: of stipules, between the petiole bases of two opposite leaves. Fig. 4 J.

interrupted inflorescence: one with flowers in distinct clusters and with bare axis or stem between the clusters.

intracarinal: the surface between keels.

intramarginal: situated inside the margin but close to it, e.g. of veins in the leaves of many Myrtaceae.

intravaginal: of a tiller that grows within the subtending leaf sheath. cf. extravaginal.

intricate: of plants, with many entangled branches. Fig. 1 D.

introduced (exotic): not native to the area; not indigenous. cf. endemic.

introrse: of anthers, dehiscing towards the centre of the flower (check in bud!). cf. extrorse, latrorse.

invagination: the process of forming a pocket by turning in on itself, as in the floral axis of figs (e.g. Ficus species where the minute flowers and fruits are actually inside the swollen inflorescence stem, the ‘fig’); the resulting multiple fruit is a syconium. Fig. 18 Y.

involucre: (1) a whorl or several whorls of bracts surrounding a flower or an inflorescence (as around the head in many Asteraceae); (2) a layer of tissue enveloping a particular structure, such as sporangia in many ferns, e.g. Hymenophyllaceae.

involute: rolled inwards; of a leaf margin rolled upwards. Fig. 10 C. cf. revolute.

irregular: see zygomorphic.

irritable: responding suddenly to stimuli, e.g. the labellum of some orchids (family Orchidaceae) and trigger plants (family Stylidiaceae).

isobilateral (isolateral, similifacial): having structurally similar upper and lower surfaces. cf. dorsiventral.

isodiametric: of equal dimensions, e.g. a cube.

isotype: a specimen which is, or is believed to be, a duplicate of the holotype, i.e. part of the same collection.

joint: (1) an articulation, as in a 1-foliolate leaf, Fig. 3 I; (2) a segment of some cladodes, as in many Cactaceae; (3) a node.

jugary: of glands, present on the rachises of bipinnate leaves at the junctions of pairs of pinnae or of pinnules, as in some Acacia species. Fig. 19 H. cf. interjugary.

juvenile leaves: the first-formed leaves, especially when they differ from the adult leaves.

karyotype: the gross morphology of the chromosome set, described in terms of number, length, etc.

keel: (1) a ridge like the keel of a boat, usually on the back of an organ; (2) the two fused anterior petals of the pea flower, see Fabaceae subfamily Faboideae.

kernel: the seed of a nut, drupe or pyrene.

kino: reddish exudate from the bark or wood of some trees, see ironbarks in Myrtaceae.

Kranz anatomy: a specialized anatomy associated with the C4 carboxylation pathway in plants. The vascular system is associated with at least two distinct photosynthetic cell types usually arranged in concentric layers. The cell types differ in ultrastructure and in function. Found in some grasses (Poaceae) and chenopods (Chenopodiaceae). See papers for explanation of terms. Refs Carolin, Jacobs, & Vesk (1973 & 1978).

labellum: the distinctive median petal in Orchidaceae, usually differing in size and shape from those either side.

labiate: lipped; where the limb of a corolla or a calyx is divided into 2 parts, called an upper and lower lip.

lacerate: as if torn; irregularly cut or cleft. Fig. 8 F.

laciniate: as if cut into narrow slender teeth or lobes. Fig. 8 G.

lacuna: a gap or cavity.

lamella: a thin plate-like layer. adj. lamellose.

lamina: an expanded portion of a leaf or petal. pl. laminas.

laminate: broadened into a lamina.

lanceolate: lance-shaped; 3-6 times as long as broad and broadest below the middle and tapering to the apex. Fig. 5 I.

lateral: attached to the side of an organ, e.g. leaves on a stem.

latex: a fluid exuded from cut surfaces of the leaves and stems of some plants, usually milky, sometimes yellowish and watery, e.g. as in many species in families Moraceae and Apocynaceae.

latrorse: turned sideways; of anthers, dehiscing longitudinally on the side. cf. extrorse, introrse.

lax: loose, not compact.

leaf: an organ borne on the stem of a plant, usually expanded and green; typically consisting of the more or less expanded lamina and the petiole or leaf stalk.

leaflet: one of the ultimate segments of a compound leaf. cf. pinna, pinnule.

leaf-opposed: arising from the stem opposite a leaf-base, as do some tendrils or inflorescences.

lectotype: a specimen selected from among those cited with the original description to serve in place of a holotype where the holotype is missing or destroyed, or where no holotype was designated.

legume: (1) a pod, a dry dehiscent fruit formed from one carpel and having two longitudinal lines of dehiscence, Fig. 18 I; (2) a member of the family Fabaceae.

lemma: the lower of two bracts enclosing the flower of a grass; male lemma - lemma enclosing a male flower; sterile lemma - an empty lemma.

lenticel: a small raised corky spot or line appearing on young bark, through which gaseous exchange occurs.

lenticular: a 3-dimensional shape like a doubly convex lens, circular in outline.

lepidote: covered with small, membranous scales.

leptomorph: applied to the rhizome system of some bamboos with indeterminate growth in which the aerial shoots arise laterally from an extensive rhizome system.

leptosporangiate: of ferns, having sporangia with walls consisting of a single layer of cells; the sporangium originating from a single cell. cf. eusporangiate.

liana (liane): a woody climbing plant.

lignified: converted into wood, hardened.

lignotuber: a woody swelling, partly or wholly underground, at the base of certain plants and containing numerous cortical buds, as in many eucalypts (Fig. 1 H); see mallee.

ligulate: (1) with a ligule; (2) of ray florets in Asteraceae, with a strap shaped limb.

ligule: (1) a variously shaped appendage facing towards the base of a leaf (especially in grasses), petiole, or perianth segment; (2) the strap shaped corolla lobe or limb in ray florets of Asteraceae.

limb: the expanded and usually flat portion of an organ, e.g. of a petal, or the expanding part of the corolla above a corolla tube.

linear: long and narrow with more or less parallel sides, more than 12 times as long as broad. Fig. 5 B.

linear-lanceolate: more than 12 times as long as broad and broadest in the lowest third and tapering to the apex.

linear-oblanceolate: more than 12 times as long as broad and broadest in the upper third and tapering to the base.

lineolate: marked with fine or obscure lines.

lithophyte: a plant growing on a rock, e.g. some orchids. cf. epiphyte

littoral: on or growing near the seashore.

loculicidal dehiscence: in capsules, dehiscence in median lines through the walls of the loculi rather than at the partitions between the loculi or at the placentas. Fig. 18 L. cf. septicidal.

loculus: a more or less closed cavity, containing the pollen in anthers (Fig. 20 C) and the ovules in an ovary (Fig. 13). pl. loculi.

lodicule(s): one or two scale-like structures below the stamens and ovary of a grass and regarded as a reduced perianth.

lomentum: a legume that breaks transversely into usually 1-seeded indehiscent articles when mature. Fig. 18 J. cf. schizocarp.

long-creeping: in ferns, a rhizome that elongates rapidly so that the fronds are usually well separated from each other. cf. short-creeping.

longitudinal: of venation, with several veins extending from the base to the apex of the lamina but the veins not more or less parallel with each other. Fig. 9 E.

lorate: of leaves, strap-shaped (moderately long with the two margins parallel).

lunate: crescent-shaped.

lyrate: lyre-shaped, of pinnatifid or pinnatisect leaves with the terminal lobes much larger than the basal ones. Fig. 5 P.

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