Botanical Nerd Word: Maculate
Maculate: Marked with splotches or dots.* Many plants are grown for their decorative spotted foliage, such as Pulmonaria and Aucuba. *Pell, S.K., Angell, B. (2016). A…
Author Archives: Weston Family Library
Botanical Nerd Word: Lyrate
Lyrate: [of leaves] Pinnatifid with the terminal lobe rounded and much larger than the subtending lobes.* The word lyrate is used to describe leaves that…
Botanical Nerd Word: Sinus
Sinus: The portion of a leaf margin that dips in between two lobes or crenations.* The alternating sinuses and lobes around the margins of maple leaves…
Botanical Nerd Word: Scorpioid
Scorpioid: Shaped like a scorpion’s tail, as in some coiled cymes.* Symphytum (comfrey) produces flowers in a scorpioid cyme. *Harris, J.G., Harris, M.W. (2001). Plant identification…
Botanical Nerd Word: Papilionaceous
Papilionaceous: Butterfly-like, as the irregular corolla of a pea, with a banner petal, two wing petals, and two fused keel petals.* Baptisia is a member…
Botanical Nerd Word: Deracinate
Deracinate: To pluck or tear up by the roots; to uproot, eradicate, exterminate.* Don’t just pull those weeds, deracinate them! *OED Online, Oxford University Press.
Botanical Nerd Word: Flexuose
Flexuose: Bending back and forth at angles in opposite directions, zigzagging.* The stems of Japanese knotweed, a highly invasive plant, have a characteristic zigzag shape. *Pell,…
Botanical Nerd Word: Flush
Flush: Emergence of leaves or flowers on woody plants.* As the flowers begin to fade on the redbuds (Cercis canadensis), the trees put out their flush…
Botanical Nerd Word: Peltate
Peltate: Having a centrally attached stalk or petiole like an umbrella.* The leaf stalk of mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) is attached in the middle of the leaf, rather…
Botanical Nerd Word: Achlamydeous
Achlamydeous: Having neither sepals nor petals.* Willows (Salix spp.) produce a type of flower called a catkin. They have no petals or sepals. *A technical glossary…