Vegetation Glossary

Adventitious: (Biology) Out of the proper place or usual place; as , “adventitious buds or roots.”

Alternate: Leaf or structure not opposite on stem

Annual: Completing the life cycle in one growing season

Basal: Of or at the base

Biennial: Completing the life cycle in two growing seasons

CODE: Refers an abbreviated code derived from the species name for data collection; the same code
            appears in the attributes table of the MRC invasive exotic shapefiles from MRC road surveys.

Creeping: To grow along the ground or some structure

Endemic: Native or confined to a specific region

Entire: Margins smooth without teeth or lobes

Flower: Seed producing structure of plant

Fruit: Ripened ovary and its structures that enclose it at maturity

GROUP: Refers to two classes of flowering plants; monocots and dicots.

Herbaceous: Having the characteristics of an herb; leaf-like in color and texture

Lateral: Born on the side of a structure or an object

Leaf: Flat thin part of a plant growing from the base or stem

Lobed: bearing lobes; generally the sinuses are not half way to base of leaf or midrib as in oak leaves

Monoculture: Only one species present

Monotypic: When referring to a vegetation community, consisting mostly of only one species of plant

Oblong: Two to four times longer than wide with the sides nearly parallel as in a leaf

Node: The point on a stem where the leaf is attached, or has been attached; a joint

Perennial: A plant whose life cycle extends for three or more years

Pinnate: Compound leaf with the leaflets on two opposite sides of an elongated axis

Protrusion: A part of a structure that sticks out

Pubescent: Covered with hairs, generally short soft hairs

Ray flowers: Generally the showy strap shaped flower in the head of a sunflower; as opposed to the less
                       showy disk or tube flower

Reduced: Lessened in size or form

Rhizome: A horizontal, usually underground stem, that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes

Root: The portion of the plant, generally below the ground, that anchors the plant and absorbs moisture
           and nutrients from the soil

Rosette: Dense basal cluster of leaves arranged in a circular fashion about one point usually at ground level

Seed: That part of the plant containing the mature embryo from which a new plant can generate

Stamens: One of the pollen-bearing organs of a flower; male part; made up of a filament and anther

Stem: The main stalk of a plant; supports leaves, flowers and fruit

Terminal: Of or at the end of something

Toothed: A small marginal lobe, as on a saw, dentate