colour.
Flowerhead: A tight cluster of small flowers as in the daisy family.
Fruit: The ripened ovary containing seeds, such as a berry or pod.
Genus: The term for a group of closely related species (pl. genera).
Hairy: Visible hairs on a leaf, stem, or calyx.
Herbaceous: Plants with soft, green stems as opposed to woody.
Hierarchy: The successive grouping of closely related organisms into larger and larger groups. Species are grouped into a genus, then genera into a family, families into an order, orders into a class, classes into a phylum, and phyla into a kingdom.
Hood: When petals arch or curve to form a hood, as in the mint family.
Individual: Flowers arranged individually on a plant (not in groups). This includes one flower per stem, or many flowers spaced along a branch.
Inflorescence: Flowers arranged in a group or cluster.
Involucre: A circle or circles of bracts beneath a flowerhead as in the daisy family.
Irregular: A flower in which the petals and or sepals are not all alike.
Lateral: At the sides.
Leaf-axil: The upper acute angle formed by the junction of a leaf with the main stem or stem-branch.
Liana: Climbing plant with woody stems.
Lip: The lower petal forming a lip as in the orchid and mint families.
Lobe: The rounded segment of a leaf or petal.
Locality: The area where a plant is found growing. Characteristics like temperature, humidity, wind, etc. are what differentiate between different locals.
Midrib: The central and main vein of a leaf.
Nomenclature: The hierarchy of categories given to a species; includes kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.
Organelle: A small structure within a plant cell completely surrounded by a membrane.
Ovary: The swollen part of the pistil, below the style, containing the seeds and later becoming the fruit.
Parasite: A plant that obtains its food from another living plant.
Perennial: A plant that lives and reproduces for several years; the stems and leaves may die each year, but portions close to or below the ground remain perennial.
Petal: The usually 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 le