Cyperaceae: Sedges

Glossary

261 Glossary achene. A type of 1-seeded, dry, indehiscent fruit with the seed coat not attached to the mature ovary wall. acicular. Needlelike. acuminate. Gradually tapering to a long point. acute. Sharply tapering to a short point. androgynous. With staminate flowers above, pistillate flowers below. annual. Living only for one year. anther. The terminal part of a stamen that bears the pollen. antrorse. Projecting forward. apiculate. Abruptly short-pointed at the tip. appressed. Lying flat against a surface. approximate. Crowded or near to each other, often touching; opposed to remote. aristate. Bearing a short awn. ascending. Pointing upward. attenuate. Gradually becoming narrowed. awn. A bristle terminating a structure. awned. Bearing an awn. awnless. Without an awn. basifixed. Said of an anther attached at the base. beak. The narrow terminal tip of some perigynia. biconvex. Rounded on both the front and back faces. bidentate. With two teeth. bifid. Two-cleft. bract. An accessory structure at the base of a flower, sometimes appearing leaflike, other times setaceous or scalelike. bristle. A stiff hair or hairlike growth; a seta. bulblet. A small bulb, or mass of tissue capable of developing into a new plant. canaliculate. Grooved. capillary. Threadlike. capitate. Forming a head. cartilaginous. Firm but flexible. castaneous. Chestnut colored. cauline. Belonging to a stem or culm. cespitose. Growing in tufts. ciliate. Bearing short, marginal hairs. clavate. Club-shaped. compressed. Flattened. concave. Curved on the inner surface; opposite of convex. conduplicate. Folded together lengthwise. confluent. Running together. conic. Cone-shaped. conical. Cone-shaped. contiguous. Touching the next one in a series. convex. Curved on the outer surface; opposite of concave. convolute. Rolled lengthwise. coriaceous. Leathery. corm. An underground, vertical stem with scaly leaves, differing from a bulb by lacking fleshy leaves. corrugate. Wrinkled or in folds. cucullate. Hooded. culm. The stem that terminates in an inflorescence. cuneate. Wedge-shaped, tapering to the base. cusp. A very short point. cuspidate. Terminating in a very short point. cylindric. Shaped like a cylinder. cylindrical. Shaped like a cylinder. cyme. A type of broad and flattened inflorescence in which the central flowers bloom first. cymose. Bearing a cyme. deciduous. Falling away. decumbent. Lying flat, but with the tip ascending. decurrent. Extending beyond the point of attachment. deltoid. Referring to a solid object that is triangular. dentate. With sharp teeth, the tips of which project outward. depressed. Shallowly sunken in. dilated. Expanded, swollen. dioecious. Having staminate and pistillate flowers on separate plants. disarticulating. Breaking off. distended. Swollen over a structure. 262 / G L O S S A RY distichous. Two-ranked; arranged in two vertical rows. divaricate. Widely spreading. divergent. Spreading. dorsal. The outer face of a structure. ebarbellate. Without barbs. ellipsoid. Referring to a solid object that is broadest at the middle, gradually tapering to both ends; narrower than oblongoid. elliptic. Broadest at the middle, gradually tapering to both ends; narrower than oblong. emarginate.Havingashallownotchatthetip. excurrent. Extending beyond the margin of a structure from which it originates. fascicled. Clustered. ferruginous. Iron-colored. fibrillose. Bearing numerous fine fibers. fibrous. Referring to roots borne in tufts. filament. That part of the stamen supporting the anther. filiform. Threadlike. flaccid. Weak, flabby. flexuous. Flexible; zigzag. foliaceous. Leaflike. fusiform. Spindle-shaped. gibbous. Swollen on one side. glabrous. Without pubescence or hairs. glaucous. With a whitish covering that can be wiped off. globoid. Referring to a round, solid body. globose. Round; globular. glomerulate. Bearing small compact clusters. glomerule. A small compact cluster. glume. A scale, usually sterile, in a spikelet. granular. Having the surface texture of tiny grains. gynecandrous. A spike with pistillate flowers at the tip and staminate flowers below. hirtellous. With minute stiff hairs. hispidulous. With minute stiff hairs. hyaline. Transparent. hypogynium. A structure that subtends the ovary. imbricate. Lapped over each other. impressed. Sunken into the surface. inflorescence. A cluster of flowers or spikes. intervenal. Between the veins. invaginated. Notched; sunken inward. involucel. A secondary involucre. involucral. Referring to a circle of bracts that subtends a flower cluster. involucre. A circle of bracts that subtends a flower cluster. involute. Rolled inward. keel. A central ridge. keeled. Bearing a ridgelike process. lanceolate. Lance-shaped; broadest near the base, gradually tapering to the narrower apex; narrower than ovate. lanceoloid. Referring to a solid object that is broadest near the base, gradually tapering to the narrower apex; narrower than ovoid. lenticular. Lens-shaped. ligule. The structure at the summit of the ventral side of the sheath where it merges into the blade. linear. Elongated and uniform in width throughout. locular. Referring to the...