Glossary
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Letter: S
Showing 37 of 37 terms starting with "S"
- Sagittate
- Arrowhead-shaped, with the basal lobes pointing downward or toward the petiole or stem.
- Salverform
- A slender-tubed corolla that expands at the top into a flat portion. See flower shape drawings.
- Scabrous
- Rough to the touch. Feels like sandpaper.
- Scape
- Leafless stalk arising from the ground or a basal whorl of leaves and bearing one or more flowers.
- Scarious
- Thin, dry, membranous, and somewhat translucent.
- Schizocarp
- A dry fruit that seperates into indehiscent, 1-seeded segments called mericarps.
- Scientific Names
- There are three parts to a plant's scientific name. The first part is the "genus", which is determined by similarities in morphology, flowering characteristics, or genetic relationships. The second part of the scienctific name is the "epithet". The genus and specific epithet together provide the name of the species. Species are also determined by similarities in morphology, flowering characteristics, or genetic relationships. The third part of the scientific name is the "authority". This is the person first credited with naming and describing the plant. Authorities appearing in parentheses had their work revised by a later plant taxonomist whose name follows. Sometimes species are divided into varieties, which is denoted by the abbreviation "var.". A scientific name that is no longer accepted is called a "synonym". Synonyms are indicated by an equal sign.
- Secund
- Directed to one side.
- Sedge
- A grass-like plant with a triangular stem often growing in wet areas. See drawing of plant group characteristics.
- Sepals
- The outermost flower structures which usually enclose the other flower parts. This part of the calyx is usually green, but can sometimes be brightly colored. See drawing of flower parts.
- Serrate
- A leaf margin with sharp teeth pointing forward, like a saw.
- Sessile
- Without a stalk. See drawing of leaf attachments.
- Sheath
- The lower part of the grass leaf which wraps around the stem. See drawing of parts of a grass plant.
- Short grass
- A grass that grows less than two feet tall.
- Silicle
- A short, broad, often flat, 2-celled fruit of the Mustard Family. See drawing of fruits.
- Silique
- A long, slender, many-seeded, cylindrical fruit of the Mustard Family. See drawing of fruits.
- Sorus
- A cluster of spore-bearing structures on the undersurface of a fern leaf. Plural sori.
- Spadix
- Fleshy, cylindric spike of small flowers.
- Spathe
- An enlarged leaf-like bract that surrounds or partially encloses an inflorescence.
- Spatulate
- Spoon-shaped. See drawing of leaf shapes.
- Species
- The taxanomic category subordinate to a genus. A group of like individuals. The second part of a scientific name identifies a particular species. (See Genus)
- Spike
- An elongated, unbranched inflorescence with the flowers or spikelets usually stalkless. See drawing of inflorescence types.
- Spikelet
- A unit of inflorescence in grasses. A small group of grass flowers. See drawing of parts of a grass plant.
- Spinose
- Terminating in a rigid, tapering, sharp extension of the primary vein.
- Spore
- Reproductive body capable of developing into a new individual (ferns).
- Squarrose
- Spreading or recurved at the end.
- Stamen
- The male reproductive (pollen-bearing) structure of a flower, composed of the anther and filament.
- Staminate
- A flower or plant that has only stamens. A male plant or flower.
- Staminode
- A sterile stamen.
- Stigma
- The part of the pistil that receives the pollen. See drawing of flower parts.
- Stipitate
- Having a stipe (small stalk).
- Stipule
- Leaflike appendages on either side at the base of the leaf petiole.
- Stolon
- A stem that grows horizontally along the surface of the ground. These above-ground runners take root at the joints or tips, forming new plants. See drawing of parts of a grass plant.
- Striate
- Marked with fine, parallel lines or minute ridges.
- Strigose
- Covered with short, stiff, straight hairs or bristles that are sharply bent at the base and appressed (flatly pressed against the surface). See pubescence drawings.
- Subulate
- Taper from the base to a narrow or sharp point; awl-shaped.
- Subverticillate
- Nearly veticillate.