Botanical Nerd Word: Sessile
Sessile: Lacking a stalk; e.g., a leaf without a petiole.* Trillium luteum has a sessile flower. It sits directly on top of the leaves (bracts)…
Category Archives: Word of the Week
Botanical Nerd Word: Bifid
Bifid: Deeply two-cleft or two-lobed, usually from the tip.* The petals of this snow-in-summer (Cerastium) are bifid. Each one has a deep cleft at the…
Botanical Nerd Word: Volute
Volute: Rolled up.* For example, the new spring shoots of hostas. *Harris, J.G., Harris, M.W. (2001). Plant identification terminology: An illustrated glossary (2nd ed.). Spring…
Botanical Nerd Word: Pistil
Pistil: The female reproductive organ of a flower, typically consisting of a stigma, style, and ovary.* The pistil of this tulip is protruding from the…
Botanical Nerd Word: Stamen
Stamen: The male reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of an anther and a filament.* This Rhododendron dauricum ‘Arctic Pearl’ flower has 10 stamens surrounded…
Botanical Nerd Word: Imbibition
Imbibition: The adsorption of liquid, usually water, into the ultramicroscopic spaces or pores found in materials such as cellulose, pectin, and cytoplasmic proteins in seeds.*…
Botanical Nerd Word: Trifoliate
Trifoliate: With three leaves or three leaflets.* Strawberry leaves are each composed of 3 leaflets. *Harris, J.G., Harris, M.W. (2001). Plant identification terminology: An illustrated…
Botanical Nerd Word: Reniform
Reniform: Shaped like a kidney* Garlic mustard overwinters as a small plant and then gets an early start in spring. The young leaves are reniform….
Botanical Nerd Word: Rimose
Rimose: With fissures or cracks, as in the bark of some trees.* *Harris, J.G., Harris, M.W. (2001). Plant identification terminology: An illustrated glossary (2nd ed.)….
Botanical Nerd Word: Helophyte
Helophyte: A plant, typical of marshy or lake-edge environments, in which the perennating organ lies in the soil or mud below the water level, but…