Wildflowers of the Southern Interior of
Annual: A plant, which dies after completing its life cycle in one year.
Anther: The top part of the stamen that carries the pollen.
Anthocyanins: A type of water-soluble pigment having a red, purple, or blue colour depending on the plant cell pH.
Axil: The upper acute angle formed by the junction of a leaf with the main stem or stem-branch.
Basal: At the base of the plant.
Binomial Nomenclature: The system of two Latin names given to each species.
Biennial: A plant, which germinates in the first year and dies after blooming in the second year.
Blade: The flat, thin part of a leaf, as distinct from the stalk or petiole.
Bloom: The whitish appearance of some stems and leaves, similar to that on a freshly picked plum.
Bract: Similar to a very small leaf and often scale-like, situated below some flowers or flowerheads or on some stems such as orchids.
Bur: When the involucre is covered with many barbs.
Carotenoids: A type of oil-soluble pigment having a yellow or orange colour.
Chlorophyll: A type of pigment used in photosynthesis, giving a green colour to plant tissues.
Chloroplast: A type of plastid containing chlorophyll.
Chromoplast: A type of plastid containing pigments other than chlorophyll.
Clasping: When the base of a leaf is partly wrapped around the plant stem or stem-branches.
Cleft: A leaf blade may be almost divided into segments when it is cut or cleft halfway or almost to the midrib.
Cluster: Flowers or fruits grouped together.
Coniferous: Cone-bearing, usually evergreen trees, such as fir and pine.
Corolla: Collective term for the petals which are inside the sepals.
Dichotomous Key: A tool in identification of plants. You are presented with 2 opposing questions at a time, and follow the key until you have identified the nomenclature for your plant.
Disk-flower: One of many flowers forming the central disk of a daisy family flowerhead.
Dissected: Finely cut into narrow segments, usually pertaining to leaves.
Flavonols: A type of pigment having a white or cream 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 usu