Flora of North America Glossary
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| Term | Synonyms | Category | Limitation | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| isthmus | STRUCTURE | A narrower portion connecting two wider or broader portions of an inclusive structure. | ||
| jacket cell | STRUCTURE | Any of the cells forming the portion of an antheridial wall between the basal cells and the cap cell(s). | ||
| joint | = articulation | STRUCTURE | A distinct, relatively narrow zone of demarcation between adjacent main portions of an elongate structure, often thicker than the rest of the structure and sometimes a site of eventual abscission. | |
| jointed | = articulate(d) | architecture | Elongate with one or more distinct, relatively narrow zones of demarcation between adjacent main portions of the whole, these joints (articulations) often thicker and sometimes sites of eventual abscission. | |
| keel 1 | = carina | STRUCTURE | An elongate, median longitudinal ridge that is basically triangular in transverse section and resembles the keel of a boat; esp. in leaf blades and sheaths, glumes, lemmata, paleae, sepals, petals. | |
| keel 2 | = carina | STRUCTURE | Collectively, the two relatively small, connate or coherent, abaxial (lower) petals that form the keel-like portion of a papilionaceous corolla. | |
| keeled | = carinate | solid shape | Having an elongate median longitudinal ridge that is basically triangular in transverse section, resembling the keel of a boat; esp. a leaf blade or sheath, glume, lemma, palea, sepal or petal. | |
| keel-shaped | = cariniform | solid shape | Elongate, basically triangular in transverse section, tapering at one or both ends, the outer edge thus somewhat arcuate, the whole resembling the keel of a boat. | |
| kidney-shaped 1 | = reniform | plane shape | Broadly elongate and arcuate, each end bluntly rounded; like the generalized outline of the broad face of a human kidney. | |
| kidney-shaped 2 | = reniform | solid shape | Thickly elongate and arcuate, circular or compressed-circular in transverse section, each end bluntly rounded; like the generalized shape of a human kidney. | |
| knee 1 | STRUCTURE | An abrupt bend in an axial or other elongate structure. | ||
| knee 2 | STRUCTURE | An emergent portion of an otherwise normally submerged secondary root of a wetland tree, resembling a bent human knee. | ||
| kneecap-shaped | = patelliform | solid shape | Thickly meniscoid, like a human kneecap. | |
| kneed | = geniculate | solid shape | Elongate, abruptly bent, somewhat thicker at the angle, and appearing as though articulate like a leg at the knee. | |
| knee root | STRUCTURE | A specialized secondary root of a wetland tree, a portion of which projects above mean water level and appears to bend as a leg does at the knee, its distalmost portion being anchored in the substrate beneath the water. The knee of the root is commonly regarded as a conduit for gas exchange between root interior and atmosphere, a function whose need is posited on the basis of the highly anaerobic and saturated conditions prevailing in wetland substrates. | ||
| knee-rooted | architecture | plant | Having knee roots. | |
| knobby | = knotty, nodose | solid shape | Having knob-shaped (gongylodate, gongyloid, knot-shaped, nodiform) protrusions. See also nodulose. | |
| knob-shaped | = gongylodate, gongyloid, knot-shaped, nodiform | solid shape | Approximately globose, the surface convoluted or not, like a knob or knot; usually applied only to structures or components that are relatively small. | |
| knot-shaped | = gongylodate, gongyloid, knob-shaped, nodiform | solid shape | Approximately globose, the surface convoluted or not, like a knob or knot; usually applied only to structures or components that are relatively small. | |
| knotted | = torulose | solid shape | Elongate and irregularly round in transverse section with narrow irregular constrictions and intervening, closely proximate gongyloid sectors, the whole straight or variously curved; serially gongyloid; like a sequentially knotted rope. | |
| knotty | = knobby, nodose | solid shape | Having knot-shaped (gongylodate, gongyloid, knob-shaped, nodiform) protrusions. See also nodulose. | |
| labellum pl. labella | < labium, lip | STRUCTURE | The third petal of a tripetalous flower when distinctively different from the other two, usually enlarged relative to them and/or differently shaped or colored, usually apparently the abaxial (lower) petal of the three due to resupination during ontogenesis; esp. in Orchidaceae. | |
| labiate | = lipped; > bilabiate, one-lipped, two-lipped, unilabiate | architecture | perianth, calyx, corolla | Strongly zygomorphic with connate and/or coherent members some or all of whose distal portions form one or two lip-like structures. |
| labium pl. labia | = lip; > labellum | STRUCTURE | Any substructure that resembles a lip, especially a portion of a perianth, calyx or corolla; in Lamiaceae (Labiatae) sometimes restricted to the abaxial (lower) of the two corolla lips. | |
| lacerate | = cut, incised, torn; > laciniate, slashed | plane shape | Having straight to irregular lines of separation extending inward from the margin. See also cleft (dissected, divided, lobate, lobed, parted, partite, segmented). |
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