Wildflowers Glossary

A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Title			Body
Saprophyte			A plant that feeds on decayed vegetaion in the ground.
Scale			Appendage (normally small) not resembling a leaf, as found in Coltsfoot.
Scape			Leafless, stem bearing flowers.
Schizocarp			A dry dehiscent fruit that at maturity splits into two or more one-seeded parts (mericarps).
Secund			Facing in the same direction.
Seed pod			Single pod with single row of seeds. Splits in two lengthways to release the seeds. E.g. Annual Wall Rocket.
Sepal			A leaf of the calyx; the outer whorl of the perianth.
Septum			A thin partition or membrane separating the individual seeds within a seed pod or fruit.
Sessile			Without a stem.
Shrub			A relatively low woody plant having several branches near the base.
Silicula			Fruit of the cabbage family, often rounded and three times longer than it is broad.
Silique			A many-seeded capsule of the Mustard family with two valves splitting from the bottom and leaving the placentae with the false partition between them.
Simple			Leaves not divided into leaflets.
Solitary			Flower borne singly, either from the base of a plant or a leaf axil and not in a formal inflorescence.
Spadix			A fleshy spike with unstalked flowers.
Spathe			A large, hooded bract enclosing an inflorescence, especially a spadix.
Spatulate			Referring to a spoon-shaped leaf, narrower towards the base.
Species			The classification of a group of similar individuals that breed true in the wild.
Species			A rank in the classification of organisms, below genus and above subspecies; a taxon at that rank. Its members can...
Speculum			Mirror-like patch found on the petals of some orchids.
Spike			A log cluster of unstalked flowers along a central stem, as seen in Agrimony.
Spreading			Branching horizontally; hairs at right-angles.
Spur			A hollow pouch, often cylindrical, that projects from a flower, containing nectar.
Stamen			One of the pollen-bearing organs of a flower.
Standard petal			Upright, upper petal of a pea flower that is larger than the others.
Stemless			A plant without an obvious stem but with a flower-stalk that rises directly from the ground.
Stigma			The apical end of the style where deposited pollen enters the pistil.
Stigma ray			Star-shaped stigma with radiating branches.
Stipule			A leaf-like organ at the base of a leaf stem.
Stolon			A stem that grows horizontally above or below ground.
Style			The narrow elongated part of the pistil between the ovary and the stigma.
Subshrub			A small perennial with woody stems.
Subspecies			Taxonomic division immediately below species, distinct but interbreeding.
Succulent			A plant with fleshy leaves.
Suture			The seam along which pods or other fruits split open.
Symbiosis			The relationship between two or more organisms in which all benefit.

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