Vocab Flashcards
Raphides
Needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate found in cells of various plants. They often accumulate in specialized cells called idioblasts and can serve as a defense mechanism against herbivores.
Equitant
Fan shaped leaf arrangement
Phenotypic plasticity
The ability to express different phenotypes in response to different environmental conditions
Apical dominance
Development of a single main stem because the terminal/apical bud suppresses the growth of lateral buds
Pollinium
A coherent mass of pollen grains. Transferred as a unit.
Elaiosome
A fleshy appendage containing lipids or oils that is attached to some seeds. It attracts ants to help in seed dispersal
Myrmecochory
Seed dispersal by ants
Aril
An additional covering on a seed, it is often fleshy or brightly coloured
Spathe/Spadix
Large bract that envelops or partially encloses a spadix
Scape
A long leafless flower stalk
Awn
Hairy or bristley part on the seeds or glumes of grasses
Auricle
The ear-shaped thing at the base of a leaf blade or top of the a sheath in grasses
Glume
1 pair of bracts at the base of a grass spikelet
Lemma
The lower of the two bracts enclosing the grass floret
Palea
The upper of the two bracts enclosing the grass floret
Spikelet
The basic unit of a grass inflorescence with one or more florets
Tubercle
A swollen node
Culm
Stem or stalk of a grass or sedge
Lingule
The thin, membranous structure at the junction of a leaf blade and the sheath in grasses
Perigynium
A sac-like structure that surrounds the ovule in some sedges
Circinate vernation
The unrolling of a fern fronds
Frond
The leaf of a fern: blade and petiole
Sorus
A cluster of sporangia
Sporangium
Contains and produces spores in ferns
Indusium
A membrane enclosing and protecting the sori of a fern
Stipe
The stalk or stem of a fern frond
Rachis
The main axis or central shaft of a compound fern
Pinna
First division of a compound frond
Pinnule
The smaller secondary division of a compound frond on a pinna
Fiddlehead
The coiled tip of a baby fern
Dissection
the divisions and descriptions of fern frond segmentation
Rhizome
Horizontal, underground stem that produces new leaves, shoots, and roots
