Terms

This glossary will expand as more plants and plant families are added to the site.

Achene: a small, dry, one-seeded fruit that doesn’t open when mature. Selection includes cypselae, grain, schizocarp and utricle

Alternate: leaves arranged one per node on a stem; includes when only one leaf on a stem

Anther: pollen-bearing structure at the end of the stalk (filament) of the stamen

Awn: slender bristle-shaped appendage at the tip, especially on grasses

Axil: inside angle where leaf and stem connect

Basal: leaves at or near the base of the plant

Berry: fleshy fruit with 2 or more seeds that doesn’t open when mature

Bilateral petal symmetry: flower can only be divided evenly in one way e.g. Lady’s Slipper Orchid

Bract: small or modified leaf, usually at the base of a flower or flower arrangement. Bracts can be more visible than petals on many flowers e.g. Bunchberry

Calcareous: calcium rich

Calyx: collective term for all sepals; outer circle of flower parts

Capsule: dry fruit that usually opens when mature. Seeds are within 2 or more chambers that open by valves or teeth

Carpel: simple pistil or one member of a compound pistil

Catkin (ament): hanging inflorescence of flowers, falling as a whole after fruiting; ament. Stalks none to minute. Usually unisexual and without petals.

Cleistogamous: flowers that remain closed and self-pollinate (for violets these are fall flowers)

Corolla: collective term for all the petals of a flower, usually the conspicuous colored flower whorl; inner perianth composed of free or united petals

Cyme: flattish topped flower arrangement with stalked flower rising from one point of a common stalk; the inner flowers bloom first

Dicot: group of flowering plants with two seed leaves

Dimorphic: ferns with both fertile and sterile fronds

Elliptical: broadest in the middle and tapering equally towards both ends

Extirpated: a species that no longer exists in the wild in New Brunswick, but exists elsewhere

Filament: stalk of the stamen, anther sits a top the filament

Follicle: a dehiscent, unicarpellate fruit that splits along a single suture on one side of the mature carpel

Frond: leaf of ferns

Glabrous: smooth, without hairs

Glaucous: covered with fine, usually white, powder or waxy coating

Glume: scaly bracts at the base of a grass or sedge spikelet (usually in pairs)

Halophytic plants: salt tolerant plants (e.g. Saltwort/Salicornia)

Hastate: referring to arrow-shaped leaves, with lobes flaring outwards e.g. Sheep Sorrel/Rumex acetosella

Hood: appendage around stamen (e.g. present in flowers of Milkweed/Asclepias)

Imperfect flower: one with only male or female parts. 

Indusium: thin epidermal extension covering the sorus or spore bearing structure of ferns

Inflorescence: flower arrangement

Introduced plants: plant not present in New Brunswick prior to the arrival of European settlers

Invasive: plant that presents a threat to the existing ecosystem

Lance: broader towards one end, tapering to the other; typically 3 or more times longer than wide

Lobed: deep indents on edges of leaves or petals

Monocot: group of flowering plants with one seed leaf and parallel-veined leaves. e.g. Orchids

Native plants: plant was present in New Brunswick prior to the arrival of European settlers

Node: point where a bud or leaf connects/connected to a stem

Non-woody plants: plants that grow new stems each year; Herbaceous

Nut: fruit with a single ovary chamber (locule) and a single seed surrounded by a thick, hard pericarp, often supported by a whorl of bracts

Opposite: leaves arranged directly across each other, 2 or more per node on a stem; includes a whorled circle of leaves around the stem

Oval leaf: broadest in the middle and tapering towards both ends (includes elliptical leaves that taper equally towards both ends)

Ovary: where seeds are produced after fertilization. A style connects each pollen-receiving stigma to the ovary.

Palmate: spreading from a central point such as leaflets from a leaf stalk

Panicle: loose irregular arrangement of stalked flowers; each branch has multiple stalked flowers; a panicle is made up of multiple racemes

Parasitic plant: obtains nutrients through a root association with a fungal host

Pedicel: stalk of a single flower

Peduncle: primary flower stalk bearing a single flower or a flower cluster

Perfect flower: having both male and female parts

Perianth: outer part of a flower consisting of sepal and/or petals collectively

Petal: one of the highly modified leaves of a flower, usually colored

Petiole: leaf stalk

Pistil: central female reproductive organ of a flower, composed of ovary, style, and stigma. A flower may have more than one pistil. Each pistil may have one or more styles with each stigma atop a style

Pith: spongy tissue in the centre of a stem; color and form can be an identifying feature in the twigs of woody plants

Pod: any dry fruit that opens when mature e.g. Pea family

Raceme: flower arrangement where each flower is on an individual stalk along a central stem; a panicle includes multiple racemes

Rachis: axis of a compound leaf or inflorescence

Radial petal symmetry: flower can be divided evenly multiple ways e.g. Daisies

Reniform: kidney-shaped

Rhizome: underground stem that roots from its bottom side and produces further stems, branches, and leaves from its top side

Saprophytic: plants that do not make their own food, but feed on decaying organic matter

Sepal: lowermost or outermost flower segment, one of the outer set of floral leaves. Collectively called the calyx.

Sessile: without a stem, leaf stalk (petiole), or flower stalk (pedicel, peduncle)

Sillicle: long two-valved capsular fruit with a thin longitudinal internal septum bearing seeds e.g. Brassica family

Sinus: space between two lobes or teeth on a leaf

Solitary flower: a single flower that is not part of a grouped flower arrangement (inflorescence)

Spike: flower arrangement with stalkless (or nearly so) flowers arranged on an elongated stem

Spinulose: with small sharp spines

Spore: one-celled reproductive structure in ferns and fern allies

Sporangium: the spore case or container of a fern

Spur: hollow sac-like projection of a sepal or petal that often carries nectar e.g. Columbine/Aquilegia

Stamen: pollen-producing male reproductive organ of a flower, typically consists of an anther and a stalk called a filament that the anther sits atop

Stigma: part of the pistil that receives pollen, usually has a sticky or bumpy surface

Stipe: the portion of a fern stalk below the leaves

Stipule: bract-like or leafy appendage at the base of a leaf

Stomata: pores that allow gases to pass in and out of leaves. Appear on conifer needles as white dots.

Style: stalk of the pistil that connects the ovary and the stigma

Thallus: structure not clearly divided into leaf, roots and stem (e.g. Duckweed/Lemna)

Umbel: flattish topped flower arrangement with stalked flowers rising from one point of a common stalk; the outer flowers open first

Whorled: arranged in a circle around an axis; whorled leaves have an opposite leaf arrangement

Woody plants: plants that have stems that live for several years and buds that survive above ground in winter