Botany

As the name implies, this page is about scientific terms (etc.) that apply to the plant kingdom.

Top level classification

Flowering plant with one embryonic seed leaf, parallel leaf veins (e.g. grasses, lilies, palms and orchids) – believed to have evolved from the other kind (below)		Monocotyledon (monocot)
Flowering plant with two embryonic seed leaves, net–like leaf veins (everything else)		Dicotyledon (dicot)

Types of Plant (etc.)

Scientific name for the most diverse group of land plants – commonly known as flowering plants – from the Greek words for 'case' and 'seed'		Angiosperms
A plant that grows between the tree line and the snow line		Alpine
A plant that flowers and seeds in first year after sowing, then dies		Annual
A plant whose growth cycle takes two years (flowers in its second year, then dies)		Biennial
Modified or specialised leaf, often associated with reproduction (e.g. poinsettia: the flowers are small and green, the red “leaves” are …)		Bract
Mosses, liverworts, etc.: having stems and leaves but lacking roots. Reproduce by spores		Bryophyte
A plant that thrives in acidic soils		Calcifuge
A plant that thrives in calcium–rich soils		Calciole
An organelle (part of a cell) in which photosynthesis takes place		Chloroplast
Trees that are not evergreen (i.e. those that shed their leaves in autumn) are		Deciduous
A plant (or other organism) that grows on another plant, generally without harming it, relying on it for physical support (i.e. not normally for nutrition)		Epiphyte
Growth in response to gravity (positive for roots, negative for shoots)		Gravitropism or Geotropism
Tendency of a plant to grow towards the sun		Heliotropism
Growing plants without soil (usually in water, using mineral solutes)		Hydroponics
Nitrogen–fixing plants		Legumes
Tendency of a plant to grow towards light		Phototropism
A plant that feeds on dead organic matter		Saprophyte
A plant with fleshy leaves (or other parts) in which it stores water		Succulent
Growth or turning of a plant in response to environmental stimulus		Tropism
A plant that thrives in dry or desert conditions (including ice or snow cover)		Xerophyte

Other

The part of the stamen that produces pollen		Anther
The time when a flower is open, or the opening of a flower		Anthesis
Bud at the top of a stem		Apical bud
A hair or bristle (e.g. on cereal grains or grasses)		Awn
The trunk of a tree, from the ground up to the lowest major branch		Bole
Bladderwort, sundew and the Venus flytrap are examples of plants that are		Carnivorous
The pistil – one or more of which make up the female reproductive organ of a flowering plant (the gynoecium) – consists of one or more		Carpels
Spikes (clusters) of flowers found in many types of tree, including birch, willow, poplar and hazel		Catkins
Organic compound (polymer) that is the main constituent of plant cell walls, giving them strength; used to make paper		Cellulose
Material in plant leaves that converts sunlight to starch and sugars, and makes them green		Chlorophyll
Short, swollen underground stem in some plants (e.g. crocus, gladiolus), used to store nutrients over winter or (sometimes) excessive heat in summer; often confused with bulbs		Corm
Secondary ring of tissue in a plant stem – may turn to bark		Cortex
Pitcher plant: a carnivorous plant that kills its victims by		Drowning
Outer layer of a cell		Ectoplasm
Organic catalyst found in plant and animal cells		Enzyme
Gas given off by fruit which promotes ripening		Ethylene
Acid in nettle stings (and ant bites)		Formic
Spore–bearing leaf of a fern		Frond
Simple sugar found predominantly in fruit		Fructose
The beginning of growth from a seed		Germination
Anthesis: the state of being		In flower
Simple, pinnate, pinnatifid, oborate, palmate: types of		Leaf
Fungus and alga living symbiotically		Lichen
The material that strengthens trees: the second most plentiful organic polymer on Earth, after cellulose		Lignin
Metallic element present in chlorophyll, which enables it to capture the energy from sunlight that's necessary for photosynthesis		Magnesium
Acid found in rotten fruit		Malic
Edible vegetative or reproductive parts of trees and shrubs, used as fodder by wild animals and some domestic animals (e.g. pigs)		Mast
Liquid produced by flowers to attract pollinating insects		Nectar
Name (from the Greek for 'around the flower') used for the non–reproductive part of a flower – consisting of the petals (or corolla) and sepals (or calyx)		Perianth
Scientific term for the stalk of a leaf		Petiole
Living tissue that carries organic nutrients to all parts of the plant (cf. Xylem)		Phloem
Process by which plants produce sugars (especially glucose) from carbon dioxide and water, using energy from sunlight, with oxygen as a waste product		Photosynthesis
The female reproductive organ of a flowering plant (the gynoecium) consists of one or more (cf. carpel)		Pistil
Itself consists of an ovary, a style and a stigma
Microspores of seed plants, containing the male gametes, carried by the wind or by insects		Pollen
Ornithophily		Pollination by birds
Underground stem that produces shoots and new plants		Rhizome
Fluid that transports water and nutrients through the xylem and phloem in a plant		Sap
A single–celled reproductive body that grows into a plant without any form of sexual union		Spore
The male reproductive organ in flowering plants (cf. pistil, anther)		Stamen
The receptive tip of the pistil – often sticky – on which pollen must be deposited for pollination		Stigma
Pore in the leaf or stem, used to take in air (CO2 and oxygen) and let out water vapour		Stoma (pl. stomata)
The movement of water through a plant, and its evaporation from aerial parts (leaves, stems, flowers etc.)		Transpiration
The swollen end of an underground stem, containing buds – e.g. potato		Tuber
Family of plants whose name comes from the Latin word for a sunshade, because of the way their flowers grow in clusters from the same stalk		Umbellifers
Living tissue that carries water to all parts of the plant (cf. Phloem)		Xylem

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23