ally coloured, conspicuous inner circle of flat blades just inside the calyx of a flower. Petals may be all the same as in a Buttercup or of different shapes and sizes as in a Lupine or joined to form a tube as in a Penstemon.
pH: A measure of the hydrogen ion concentration in an aqueous solution.
Phylum: The term for a group of closely related classes (pl. phyla).
Pigment: The compound(s) present within the plant that gives it colour.
Pistil: The female part of a flower, comprising the ovary, stigma, and style.
Plastids: Membrane bound organelles used for food manufacturing (photosynthesis) and storage.
Pollen: The fine powder carried by the anthers of the stamens.
Receptacle: The broadened upper end of a flower stem which bears the flower parts.
Recurved: Curved backwards or outwards such as the upper petal of a Lupine.
Reflexed: Bent backwards or outwards.
Regular: A flower in which the petals and sepals are all alike.
Root-stock: An underground stem from which stems above ground arise.
Rosette: A circular cluster of leaves usually at the base of a plant.
Scientific Name: Specific Name, or Species.
Sepal: One of two or more parts of the calyx, usually green and pointed but may be petal-like and of any colour.
Serrated: Finely and regularly-toothed, like the teeth of a saw, pertaining to leaves.
Sheath: The lowest part of some leaves which are wrapped around the main stem as in the Cattail.
Sheathing: Wrapping completely around the stem; pertaining to leaves.
Single: One flower per plant. Single flower plants often grow in clumps, appearing to be one individually flowered plant.
Spadix: A thick, fleshy stem bearing small flowers as in the Skunk Cabbage.
Spathe: A large pointed bract enclosing the spadix as in the Skunk Cabbage.
Specific Epithet: The second part of the specific name; follows the genus name.
Spike: Elongated cluster of small stalkless or very short stalked flowers at the upper end of stem.
Spur: An elongated horn-like extension of a petal or petals as in the Violet.
Stalk: The narrow part of a leaf joining the blade to the plant-stem; also called the petiole.
Stamen: The male, pollen-bearing part of a flower consisting of a filament and an anther.
Standard: The upper, usually erect and recurved petal in Pea family flowers, also called the banner.
Sterile: Infertile, as a stamen without an anther cannot produce pollen.
Stigma: The sticky, uppermost part of the pistil and terminating the style.
Stipules: Small leaf-like structures at the junction of some leaf-stalks with the stem, as in some Vetches.
Style: That part of the pistil which joins the ovary and stigma.
Tendril: The slender, coiling thread-like extension of a modified leaf or stem, used for climbing, as in Clematis.
Tepals: When petals and sepals are all alike, as in Death-Camas and some other members of the Lily family.
Terminal: At the top of a stem or end of a leaf.
Toothed: Pointed, tooth-like projections on margins of leaves, coarser than serrations.
Trailing: Lying on the ground but not rooting; pertaining to stems as in Morning Glory.
Tubular: Tube or funnel-shaped, when petals or sepals are joined, as in Scarlet Gilia.
Wings: The two side petals in flowers of the Pea family.