-- A --
Aerial Refers to any plant part that is above water in aquatic plants or terrestrial plant parts found above ground.
Appressed Lying close and flat against, as a bud against a twig.
Archegonium (pl. archegonia) The flask-shaped female reproductive organs and contains the egg which becomes the sporophyte.
Annual A plant whose life cycle is of only one year's duration.
Aquatic Plants species whose seeds germinate in water or in the bottom soil of bodies of water, usually with submersed or floating leaf types.
-- B --
-- C --
Cell One of the minute vesicles, of protoplasm consisting typically of nucleus, cytoplasm, and a photosynthetic pigments, all enclosed by a cell wall.
Cryptogam A general name for plants, and plant-like organisms, that lack flowers and are not reproduced by seeds, including ferns, mosses, fungi and algae.
Cytoplasm the contents of a cell; includes the organelles but not the nucleus.
Chromosomes One of the set of bodies in the nucleus which determine hereditarily cell structure and function.
-- D --
Diploid having two of the basic sets of chromosomes in the nucleus.
-- E --
Eukaryote cell or organism with a membrane-bound, structurally discrete nucleus and other well-developed subcellular compartments.
Epiphyte (adj. epiphytic) A plant growing attached to another plant, but not parasitic; an air plant.
-- F --
-- G --
Gametophyte That part of the plant which bears the gametes or sexual cells.
Gamete A sex cell, either male or female, having a haploid set of chromosomes.
Germinate (n. germination) To develop a young plant from seed.
-- H --
Heterosporous Describing plants producing both microspores and megaspores.
Haploid Half the full set of genetic material, as found in the gamete.
-- I --
-- J --
-- K --
-- L --
Leaf (pl. leaves) A usually flat, green structure of a plant where photosynthesis and transpiration take place and attached to a stem or branch.
Ligule a short membranous projection on the inner side of the leaf blade at the junction where the leaf blade and leaf sheath meet.
-- M --
Megaspore A general term for large spores of heterosporous vascular plants.
Megasporangium (pl. megasporangia) The female sporangium containing the megaspores.
Megagametophyte The female gametophyte, formed by vegetative growth of the megaspore of a heterosporous plant.
Meiosis The process in which a single diploid cell becomes four haploid cells in two consecutive divisions of the nucleus of an eukaryotic cell.
Microphyll A kind of leaf, specifically one which has a single, unbranched vein in it.
Microspore A general term for the smaller spores of heterosporous plants, that is, the spores from which the microgametophyte develops.
Microsporangium (pl. microsporangia) The male sporangium in which microspores are developed.
Microgametophyte The male gametophyte, formed by vegetative growth of the microspore of a heterosporous plant.
-- N --
Nucleus (Pl. nuclei, adj. nuclear) the cellular organelle in eukaryotes that contains the genetic material.
-- O --
Organelle A membrane-bound body found in the cytoplasm of the cell that performs specific cellular functions.
-- P --
Photosynthesis The process by which plants convert sunlight into energy.
Prostrate Lying flat upon the ground.
Protoplasm The living contents of a cell.
Perennial A plant whose life cycle lasts for three or more seasons.
Phloem The tissue in land plants that conducts organic food material.
-- Q --
-- R --
Root The underground part of a plant that serves to anchor it and supplies it with nourishment.
Rhizome ( adj. rhizomatous) Any prostrate or subterranean stem.
-- S ---
Spore A reproductive body produced by certain fungi and other organisms, capable of growing into a new individual under proper conditions.
Sporangium (pl. sporangia) A chamber inside of which spores are produced through meiosis.
Sporophyte (syn. sporophore) The spore-bearing part or generation.
Sporophyll A leaf which bears sporangia.
Stem The main ascending axis of a plant.
Strobilus (pl strobili) A dense cone-like structure producing spores.
Subterranean Below ground.
-- T --
Terrestrial Growing in soil.
Transpiration The passage of water through a land plant and usually out the pores of its leaves.
-- U --
-- V --
Vascular The conducting strand of a stem or leaf used to transfer water through the tissues of a plant.
-- W --
-- X --
Xylem Tissue specialised for the transport of water and minerals upward through the plant.
-- Y --
-- Z --