Botancial Nerd Word: Vernation
Vernation: The pattern of folding and rolling of leaves in a bud.* Different plants use different folding patterns to pack their leaves into the bud. These beech…
Author Archives: Weston Family Library
Word of the Week: Urceolate
Urceolate (ur-see-o-late): Pitcher-like, hollow and contracted at the mouth like an urn or pitcher.* The tiny, individual flowers in the inflorescence of grape hyacinth (Muscari…
Botanical Nerd Word: Cernuous
Cernuous (sern-you-us): Drooping or nodding.* Trout lilies (Erythronium americanum), coming into bloom now in the woods, have cernuous blooms. *Harris, J.G., Harris, M.W. (2001). Plant…
Botanical Nerd Word: Precocious
Precocious: Developing or appearing very early; with the flowers developing before the leaves.* The Magnolia x loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ in the Westview Terrace is already…
Word of the Week: Perule
Perule: A leaf-bud scale.* Perules protect the young leaves through the winter. They will soon be falling away as the leaves begin to grow. *Harris,…
Botanical Nerd Word: Geophyte
Geophyte: A plant that survives an unfavourable period by means of underground food-storage organs (e.g. rhizomes, tubers, and bulbs). Buds arise from these to produce new…
Botanical Nerd Word: Corona
Corona: Petal-like or crown-like structures between the petals and stamens in some flowers.* The ‘trumpet’ part of daffodils (Narcissus spp.), for example. *Harris, J.G.,…
Botanical Nerd Word: Galochrous
Galochrous: Milk-white in colour. Galanthus (snowdrops) are blooming in the garden. The genus name Galanthus comes from Greek gala, milk + anthos, flower. Allaby, M. (2006). A dictionary…
Botanical Nerd Word: Ternate
Ternate: Divided in three; e.g., trifoliate leaf.* Shamrocks, or clovers, have ternate leaves. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! *Pell, S.K., Angell, B. (2016). A botanist’s vocabulary:…
Botanical Nerd Word: Plumule
Plumule: (Syn. epicotyl) The portion of the embryo above the point of attachment of the cotyledon(s) which gives rise to the shoot.* In the image…