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Name | Definition |
Acuminate | tapered to a sharp point with concave sides, as a leaf or sepal. |
Acute | tapered to a sharp point with straight sides. |
Alternate | arising singly at each node on a stem, as the leaves. |
Anther | the pollen-producing organ of the stamen; in |
Ascending | growing upward obliquely, as stems or flowers on a stem. |
Basal | growing at the base, as leaves at or near the ground. |
Beard | a tuft of hairs, as on the palate or staminode. |
Blade | the broad part of a leaf or petal. |
Bract | a leaf, usually reduced, in the inflorescence, from the axil of which a floral peduncle or pedicel may arise |
Calyx | the sepals of a flower collectively, the outermost portion of a flower. |
Capsule | a dry specialized seed pod, as in Penstemon. |
Caudate | with a sharp tail-like appendage, as on a leaf tip. |
Caulescent | with a leafy stem rising above ground. |
Cauline | of or pertaining to a leafy stem, bearing flowers in Penstemon. |
Channeled | a longitudinal groove, as a leaf folded along the midrib. |
Clasping | partly or wholly surrounding a stem, as the base of a leaf. |
CM (Centimeter) | 10 millimeters, 0.1 decimeter, 0.01 meter (approx. 13/32 inch). |
Connate-perfoliate | joined at the base and surrounding a stem, as a pair of leaves. |
Connective | the tissue joining two pollen sacs as in the stamens of Penstemon. |
Cordate | heart shaped. |
Corolla | collectively the petals of a flower; in Penstemon, joined at the base to form a tube and the petal lobes. |
Cyme | one peduncle of a branching inflorescence bearing two or more flowers with the terminal flower blooming first; in Penstemon, one side of a verticillaster. |
Deciduous | with leaves falling at the end of the growing season. |
Declined | curved or angled downward, i.e., below the horizontal |
Decumbent | a stem with a curving or reclining base and erect or ascending tip. |
Dehiscent | rupturing at maturity, as anther sacs or capsules. |
Dentate | with spreading or outward-pointing teeth on the margin. |
Determinate | as an inflorescence in which the terminal flower blooms first, stopping elongation of the peduncle or main stem. |
Divergent | spreading widely apart but not completely opposite, as the anther sacs in Penstemon. |
dm (decimeter) | 0.1 meter, 10 centimeters, approximately 4 inches. |
Elliptic | approximately the shape of an oval, as a leaf or sepal. |
Elongate | growing in length; considerably longer than wide. |
Endemic | growing in a confined area or geographic region. |
Entire | continuous, not toothed or cut, as a leaf margin. |
Erose | a ragged or irregularly cut margin. |
Evergreen | leaves remaining green over winter. |
Exotic | introduced; not native to a region. |
Expanded | enlarged, as the tip of a staminode. |
Explanate | spreading out flat, as dehiscent anther sacs. |
Exserted | protruding, as stamens or staminode from a corolla. |
Fertile | capable of reproduction, as a stamen bearing pollen. |
Filament | the stalk of a stamen supporting the anther. |
Fleshy | thick and succulent, pulpy. |
Flexuous | curved or bent, as a stem. |
Foliage | the leaves collectively. |
Genus (pl. Genera) | a group of structurally related species; a classification between family and species. |
Glabrous | a smooth surface; without hairs or glands. |
Glandular | bearing glands, as on the ends of hairs or on a surface. |
Glaucous | a fine waxy powder, usually blue or gray, covering a surface. |
Guide Lines | Pigmented veins in the throat or on the palate of a tubular corolla, as in Penstemon. |
Herb | a plant or that part of a plant dying back at the end of a growing season. |
Herbaceous | green colored, non-woody. |
Incised | deeply cut, as the teeth on a leaf margin. |
Inclined | angled upward, above horizontal. |
Included | enclosed within a structure, as the stamens within the corolla. |
Indeterminate | as an inflorescence in which the bottom flowers bloom first, so that the peduncle or main stem can continue to elongate. |
Inflorescence | the flowers collectively on a plant; the arrangement of flowers along a flowering stalk including side branches. |
Keeled | with a conspicuous longitudinal ridge, as on the top of a corolla. |
Lanceolate | Lance shaped. |
Limb | the expanded part of a corolla; from the basal tube to the throat in Penstemon. |
Linear | long and narrow with nearly parallel sides; like a line. |
Lip | the petals of a corolla aggregated into a shelf, as the upper and lower lips in Penstemon. |
mm (millimeter) | 0.001 meter, approximately 1/25 of an inch. |
Mucronate | with a short, sharp point at the tip, as a leaf or sepal. |
Naturalized | introduced into an area and wet established. |
Nectar | a sweet substance produced by a flower to attract pollinating insects; a nectary is the structure that produces nectar |
Node | the point of attachment of a leaf bract or branch on a stem. |
Oblanceolate | reverse lance-shaped, attached at the narrow end and enlarged at the outer end. |
Oblong | longer than broad with nearly parallel sides, as a leaf. |
Obtuse | broad at the tip, the sides forming an angle greater than 90 degrees. |
Opposite | located directly across from each other, as two leaves on a stem or the sacs of a dehiscent anther. |
Orifice | the mouth or opening of a corolla tube; the throat. |
Ovary | the expanded base of the pistil; the structure that contains developing seeds in plants. |
Ovate | broadly elliptic or egg-shaped, as the leaves. |
Palate | raised portion(s) of the lower lip of the corolla, tending to constrict the throat. |
Panicle | a branched inflorescence that blooms from the bottom upward. |
Pedicel | the stalk of a single flower in an inflorescence. |
Peduncle | the stalk of a cyme or inflorescence or of a single flower. |
Petiole | a leaf stalk or narrow leaf base. |
Pistil | the female organ of a flower, typically composed of stigma, style and ovary. |
Pollen sacs | in Penstemon, a pair of pollen sacs constitutes an anther. |
Prostrate | lying flat on the ground |
Pubescent | with hairs of any sort; herein generally hairs without glands. |
Raceme | an unbranched inflorescence with each flower on an individual pedicel attached to the main axis, blooming from the bottom upward. |
Reclined | bending or angled downward; lying on some support, as the base of a stem lying on the ground. |
Recurved | curving or bent backward |
Reduced | Becoming smaller. |
Remote | spaced well apart; small in size. |
Revolute | rolled backward or under, as margins. |
Rhizome | a horizontal underground stem or rootstock |
Robust | vigorous, often above average in size |
Rosette | a cluster of leaves, usually encircling the base of a plant |
Rotund | round, plump. |
Sacs | pouches, see pollen sacs |
Sagittate | in the shape of an arrow or arrowhead |
Scarious | thin and white, as the margin of a sepal. |
Secund | arranged on one side of a main stem, as an inflorescence. |
Sepals | outermost floral leaves; segments of the calyx. |
Serrate | like saw teeth; forward-pointing teeth on the margins. |
Sessile | directly attached at the base, as a leaf without a petiole. |
Shoots | young or short stems or branches. Uses a gun, as pointing at deer in garden. |
Shrub | a plant with several stems, woody at the base, not dying back at the base. |
Spatulate | spatula-shaped, broad and rounded at the end and tapered to a narrow base, as a leaf. |
Species | a plant that possesses one or more unique characteristics; a classification between genus and variety (subspecies). |
Spike | an unbranched inflorescence with sessile flowers on the main axis. |
Spreading | expanding to nearly horizontal branches, as an inflorescence. |
Stamen | the male, pollen-producing organ of a flower, normally composed of a filament and an anther. |
Staminode | a modified sterile stamen producing no pollen. |
Stem | an axis of a plant bearing nodes, leaves and buds, usually above ground. |
Sterile | not fertile, not producing seeds or pollen; stems without flowers. |
Stigma | that portion of the pistil on which pollen is deposited, normally the end of the style, often enlarged. |
Style | the usually slender stalk connecting the stigma and ovary. |
Sub | a prefix meaning "almost" or "not quite," as in subequal and subshrub. |
Suture | a line of fusion or separation, as in the dehiscence of an anther or capsule. |
Throat | the opening or orifice of a corolla. |
Thyrse | a densely compact inflorescence; a panicle with indeterminate main axis and cymose branches. |
Toothed | dentate; having lobes or points along a margin. |
Truncate | with the end squared off or abruptly rounded as if cut off. |
Tubular | with the form of a cylinder. |
Umbel | an inflorescence in which 3 or more pedicels arise from a common point on a stem. |
Valve | in an anther, one side of the anther wall after dehiscence. variety—a classification in taxonomy below the species level. |
Verticillaster | a false whorl; in Penstemon, arising at a node and composed of 2 cymes (a branched cluster of blooms that looks like a whorl). |
Villous | with long, soft hairs. |
Whorl | a ring of 3 or more leaves or flowers arising from a common node or point. |