Appendices & Glossary - Botanical Research Institute of Texas

1364 GLOSSARY/BISERIATE–CAPITULUM
BISERIATE In two whorls or cycles; e.g., a perianth with both
calyx and corolla.
BISEXUAL FLOWER Type of flower with both stamens and pistil(s)
functional within the same flower.
BIVALVATE Opening by two valves.
BLADDER (a) A thin-walled, inflated structure; (b) a hollow,
membranaceous appendage that traps insects;e.g., Utricularia
(Lentibulariaceae).
BLADDERY Thin-walled and inflated;like the bladder of an animal.
BLADE Flat,expanded portion,as the main part of a leaf or petal.
BLOOM (a) Flower or flowering; (b) coating of white wax or
powder, as on plums or grapes.
BOLE The main trunk or stem of a tree.
BOSS A protrusion.
BRACKISH Somewhat salty.
BRACT A modified reduced leaf typically subtending a flower
or cluster of flowers.Bracts can vary from very leaf-like to scalelike
or thread-like; in some cases they can be colorful and
attract pollinators.
BRACTEAL Having the form or position of a bract.
BRACTEATE Having bracts.
BRACTEOLATE Having bracteoles.
BRACTEOLE, BRACTLET A usually small bract borne on a secondary
axis (e.g., on a pedicel).
BRACTEOSE Having numerous or conspicuous bracts.
BRANCH A shoot or secondary stem growing from the main stem.
BRANCHLET The ultimate division of a branch.
BRISTLE Stiff, strong but slender hair or trichome.
BRISTLY Bearing bristles.
BROAD (= Wide) Distance across a structure (equal to diameter if
tubular);sometimes restricted to signify the width or diameter of
three-dimensional structures.
BRYOPHYTA Group containing the mosses, liverworts, and
hornworts.The Bryophyta is not treated in this flora.
BUD (a) Undeveloped or unopened flower; (b) undeveloped,
much-condensed shoots, containing embryonic (meristematic
or growing) tissue,usually covered by scales or bracts.Such buds
are usually found at the tips of stems or in the axils of leaves.
BULB Underground structure composed of a short, disc-like
stem and one or more buds surrounded by layers of thickened
fleshy leaf bases or scales; e.g., an onion.
BULBIL Small bulbs produced in an inflorescence or in leaf axils;
e.g., in Allium inflorescences.
BULBLET Small bulbs produced alongside a parent bulb; e.g.,
the numerous underground small bulbs produced by some
garlics.
BULBOUS, BULBOSE Having bulbs or bulb-like structures.
BULLATE Describing a surface with rounded elevations resembling
blisters or puckers.
BUR, BURR A structure with a rough or prickly envelope or covering;
e.g., sandbur.
BUSH (= Shrub) A woody perennial usually branching from
the base with several main stems.
A
C
CA. Latin, circa; abbreviation meaning about, around,
approximately.
CADUCOUS Falling off early, quickly, or prematurely; e.g., the
sepals in some Papaveraceae.
CAESPITOSE (= Cespitose) Growing in clumps or tufts.
CALCARATE With a spur.
CALCAREOUS Containing an excess of available calcium, usually
in the form of the compound calcium carbonate; containing
limestone or chalk.
CALICHE A crust of calcium carbonate formed on stony soils in
arid regions.
CALLOSITY (= Callus). A hard protuberance or thickened,raised area.
CALLOUS Having the texture of a callus.
CALLUS (= Callosity). A hard protuberance or thickened, raised
area; e.g., thickened, hardened, basal portion of some lemmas
in the Poaceae.
CALYCINE Resembling or pertaining to a calyx.
CALYCULATE Calyx-like; e.g., describing bracts that by their size
or position are suggestive of a calyx.
CALYPTRA A lid, cap, cover, or hood; e.g., the lid of certain fruits
and moss spore cases.
CALYX (pl. CALYCES,CALYXES) Collective term for the sepals; outer
series of floral “leaves”, often enclosing the other flower parts
in bud. The calyx is typically green but can be corolla-like
and showy.
CALYX LOBE One of the free projecting parts of a synsepalous
calyx; also referred to as a calyx tooth.
CALYX TUBE The basal or tubular portion of a synsepalous calyx,
as opposed to the free, distal calyx lobes.
CAMBIUM The thin layer of delicate,rapidly dividing,meristematic
cells that forms wood internally and bark externally; also known
as vascular cambium.
CAMPANULATE Bell-shaped; rounded at base with a broad
flaring rim.
CAMPYLOTROPUS OVULE Ovule curved in its development, so
that the morphological apex lies near the base.
CANALICULATE Longitudinally channeled or grooved.
CANCELLATE Latticed.
CANE Stem, specifically, (a) floricane, the flowering stem of
Rubus species (blackberries and dewberries); (b) primocane,
first-year leafy stem of the same; (c) persistent woody stems of
Arundinaria gigantea,giant cane.
CANESCENT With whitish or grayish-white appearance due to
abundance of soft short hairs.
CAP A convex,lid-like,removable covering;e.g.,the apical portion
of a circumscissile capsule. The term calyptra is used for the
cap of some fruits and moss spore cases.
CAPILLARY Hair-like; very slender.
CAPITATE (a) In heads, head-like, or head-shaped; aggregated
into a dense or compact cluster; (b) referring to capitate hairs,
like a pin-head on a stalk.
CAPITELLATE Aggregated into a small,dense cluster;diminutive
of capitate.
CAPITULUM (= Head) Dense cluster of sessile or nearly sessile
flowers.This type of inflorescence is typical of the Asteraceae.