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 than at the leaf margin. Some other plants with peltate leaves are water lotus (Nelumbo) and nasturtium (Tropaeolum).
*Pell, S.K., Angell, B. (2016). A botanist’s vocabulary: 1300 terms explained and illustrated. Portland: Timber Press.
Runcinate: Pinnatifid with the lobes pointed and sloping toward the petiole; e.g., the leaves of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)* Pinnatifid leaves have lobes that are divided halfway…
Graveolent: Strongly scented, often unpleasantly so.* Symplocarpus foetidus, commonly known as eastern skunk cabbage, is one of the first plants to bloom in the spring. It’s just…
Thermogenesis: The generation or production of heat, esp. in the animal body.* Although body heat is usually associated only with animals, some plants are actually…
