Explanation of some botanical terms.

  • Achene, a single seed like wheat.
  • Acuminate, abruptly sharp.
  • Acute, same as sharp.
  • Adnate, connivent or growing together.
  • Alternate, situated on two sides, but not opposite.
  • Ament, catkin or spike of the oak, willow, &c.
  • Ancipital, having two sharp sides like a sword.
  • Angular, forming angles.
  • Annual, lasting only one year.
  • Anomalous, out of order or irregular.
  • Axillary, situated at the corner between the stem and leaves.
  • Biennial, lasting two years.
  • Bifid, divided in two, trifid when in three, &c.
  • Binate, twin leaves or flowers.
  • Bract, a floral leaf, bracteole a small one.
  • Bulb, scaly thick root like Onions, Tulips, &c.
  • Campanulate, shaped like a bell.
  • Capsul, a dry fruit opening by valves or holes.
  • Cells, the internal divisions of the fruit, one celled or unilocular, two celled or bilocular, three celled or trilocular, &c.
  • Ciliate, having hairs on the edges.
  • Cluster, or thyrsus, a bunch of flowers or fruit, like Lilac.
  • Cordate, shaped like a heart.
  • Corymb, umbel with scattered shafts.
  • Cuspidate or mucronate, having a bristle at the end.
  • Cylindric, long and round like a cylinder.
  • Deciduous, falling off.
  • Decomposed, cut up in many successive segments.
  • Deltoid, triangular like a Delta.
  • Dichotomie, forked several times.
  • Diclinous, with staminate and pistillate flowers.
  • Dioical, having staminate and pistiiate flowers on different individuals.
  • Disk, the flat part of a leaf or petal, &c.
  • Discolor, leaves having two colors.
  • Distichal, in two flat rows.
  • Drupe, a stone fruit like Peach or Plumb.
  • Elliptic, oblong with rounded ends as an ellipsis.
  • Exsert, protruding out of the flowers, &c.
  • Fascicle, a small bundle of leaves or flowers, called then fasciculate.
  • Filiform, shaped like a thread.
  • Fistulose, a hollow stem, &c.
  • Flexuose, bent in many ways, or crooked.
  • Floret or Floscule, a small flower in compound flowers.
  • Foliole or leaflet, a small leaf of compound leaves.
  • Fronde, leaves bearing the fructification, or stems shaped like leaves.
  • Fusiform, shaped like a spindle.
  • Glabrous, same as smooth.
  • Gladiate, sword shaped.
  • Glandular, having glands.
  • Glume, the perigone of grasses.
  • Hastate, halbert shaped.
  • Imbricate, slanting over each other, like tiles or shingles.
  • Inferior, below something.
  • Inflorescence, mode in which the flowers grow.
  • Involucre, bracteoles surrounding or annexed to several flowers.
  • Labiate, flowers with one or two lips uni or bilabiate.
  • Lanceolate, shaped like a lance.
  • Legume, the pods of Peas, Beans, &c.
  • Ligulate, like a small tongue.
  • Lobe, a rounded segment, lobed with lobes.
  • Lyrate, shaped like a lyre.
  • Monoical, having staminate and pistilate flowers on the same plant.
  • Muricate, covered with short prickles.
  • Nerves, prominent fibres in the leaves, &c.
  • Neutral, flowers without Stamina nor pistils and sterile.
  • Oblique or Obliqual, having a slanting position, oblique leaves like those of the Elm, have two unequal sides.
  • Obtuse, not sharp, blunted or rounded.
  • Opposite, situated one over the other.
  • Orbicular, perfectly round.
  • Oval, shaped like an egg.
  • Panicle, a loose bunch of flowers, much divided.
  • Pappus, the downy or bristly calix of florets.
  • Parted, cut into segments, 2—3—4—5 parted, &c.
  • Pedicel, a small peduncle, or a branch of it.
  • Peduncle, the foot stalk of flowers and fruits.
  • Perianthe, the involucre or calix of compound flowers.
  • Petal, parts or leaves of the Corolla, monopetal or peripetal having only segments; 2—3—4—5 petal, having as many leaves or petals; polypetal having many petals.
  • Perennial, lasting several years.
  • Persistent, not falling off.
  • Petiole, support of the leaf: petiolate having a petiole.
  • Phoranthe, the central part of compound flowers bearing the florets.
  • Pinnate, leaves having many folioles.
  • Pinnatifid, having many deep lateral segments.
  • Pinnule, the segments of pinnatifid parts.
  • Polygamous, having complete flowers, as well as some either staminate or pistillate.
  • Pome, fruit similar to an apple.
  • Raceme, a spike with pedicels to the flowers.
  • Radiate, having rays or ligulate flowers around the florets.
  • Radical, growing from the root.
  • Ramose, branching, divided into branches.
  • Receptacle, the place where the seeds are attached.
  • Reniform, shaped like a kidney.
  • Refuse, blunt and notched.
  • Rugose, wrinkled or roughened by nerves, &c.
  • Runcinate, cut up into sharp segments like a barbed arrow.
  • Sagittate, shaped like a forked arrow.
  • Scape, stem, surrounded by radical leaves.
  • Segment, a part not quite divided.
  • Sepals, the folioles of the Calix or Perigone.
  • Sessile, having no support.
  • Serrate, toothed like a saw.
  • Silique, the pods of Turnip, Cabbage, &c.
  • Sinuate, having sinuses.
  • Solitary, standing by itself.
  • Spadix, a thick support of many crowded flowers.
  • Spatha, Involucre surrounding a Spadix, or involving flowers.
  • Spur, a hollow appendage to some flowers.
  • Stipule, appendage to some leaves.
  • Subulate, shaped like an awl.
  • Superior, standing above something.
  • Terminal, standing at the end.
  • Ternate, three by three.
  • Tomentose, covered with woolly hairs like cloth.
  • Trioical, bearing complete, staminate and pistilate flowers in three different individuals.
  • Tuberous, thick roots like Potatoes and Turnips.
  • Tubular, forming a tube.
  • Umbel, cluster of flowers forming a kind of umbrella, as in Carrot and Fennel.
  • Undulate, having waved margins.
  • Veins, fibres of leaves not prominent like nerves.
  • Verticillate, forming whorls.

Medical Flora, or Manual of the Medical Botany of the United States of North America, 1828, was written by C. S. Rafinesque.