Glossary

Native Iowa Woodland Understory Restoration: A Guide to Collecting and Germinating Seeds

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GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Achene--dry, indehiscent fruit, usually one-seeded
Berry--fleshy fruit, containing several or many seeds; any pulpy or juicy fruit
Bracts--specialized leaf from near the stem where a flower or flower stalk originates; any reduced or modified leaf that is associated with a flower but is not a part of the flower itself
Calyx--collective term for all of the sepals of a flower
Capsule--dry, dehiscent fruit composed of more than one compartment (carpel) containing seeds
Carpel--portion of a flower pistil that contains ovules; the ovules develop into seeds if fertilized by pollen
Caryopsis--fruit of a member of the grass family; often dry, indehiscent, and with a seed-coat attached to the seed
Corolla--collective term for all of the petals of a flower
Dehiscent--opening at maturity; releasing or exposing seeds
Head--type of inflorescence containing flowers closely packed together at the tip of a peduncle (like a sunflower or aster)
Hip--special term for a rose fruit (berry)
Hypanthium--expansion of the receptacle or fusion of the lower parts of a flower (calyx and corolla); contains seed
Indehiscent--remaining closed at maturity (not releasing seeds)
Inflorescence--cluster of flowers on a plant
Legume--fruit composed of a single carpel, typically dry, several -seeded and dehiscing down both sides of the fruit (like a green bean or pea)
Nut--relatively large, dry, indehiscent fruit with a hard wall, usually containing only one seed
Pappus--modified calyx crowning the ovary (achene) of members of the Asteraceae, consisting of hairs, scales, bristles, or a mixture of these
Peduncle--stalk of an inflorescence or solitary flower
Perigynia--special bract that encloses the achene of a Carex species
Rachis--main axis of attachment for leaves or flowers
Receptacle--basal part of a flower or end of a stem to which the flower or flower head is attached
Schizocarp--fruit that splits into separate carpels at maturity, as in the Apiaceae (like golden alexander)
Sepals--outermost whorl of typically green or greenish, leafy structures surrounding a flower
Silique--elongate capsule that has two valves that open, revealing seeds still attached to a central, frame-like placenta; typically seen in members of the Brassicaceae