| alternate | leaf structure not opposite on stem |
| annual | completing the life cycle in one growing season |
| awned | a slender bristle-like appendage usually at the end of a structure |
| basal | of or at the base |
| biennial | completing the life cycle in two growing seasons |
| bract | a more or less modified leaf situated near a flower of inflorescence |
| creeping | to grow along the ground or some structure |
| dioecious | flowers unisexual, the male and female flowers on different plants |
| divided | said of leaves; deeply lobed, the sinuses extending to the base of the leaf or midrib |
| entire | margins smooth without teeth or lobes |
| floret | small flower, especially one in a dense cluster; a grass flower |
| flower | seed producing structure of a plant |
| fruit | ripened ovary and its structures that enclose it at maturity |
| glabrous | smooth, no hairs present |
| glandular | bearing glands; glandular hairs with sticky substance at the end |
| glumes | chaff-like bract; used for the two lower empty bracts of a grass spikelet |
| herbaceous | having the characteristic of a herb; leaf-like in color and texture |
| inflorescence | flowering part of a plant; generally used for flowering cluster |
| lanceolate | lance shaped; several times longer than wide with broadest toward the base and pointed at the apex |
| lateral | born on the side of a structure or object |
| leaf | flat thin part of a plant growing from the base or stem |
| linear | narrow and flat with sides parallel as in a leaf |
| 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 |
| oxalates | a salt of oxalic acid; a poisonous acid found in some plants |
| perennial | a plant whose life cycle extends for three or more years |
| persistent | remaining attached after like parts normally fall off |
| phyllary | the name of the bract on the head of a sunflower |
| 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 show strap shaped flower in the head of a sunflower; as opposed to the less showy disk or tube flower |
| recurved | curved outward, downward, or backward |
| reduced | lessened in size or form |
| rhizomatous | stem growing laterally partly or wholly beneath the soil |
| root | the portion of the plant, generally below 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 |
| serrate | with sharp teeth directed forward; often said of leaf edges |
| sessile | without a stalk of any kind; said of a leaf or flower coming right off of a stem |
| simple | of only one part; not divided into separate segments; not compound |
| sinus | the depression or recess between two adjoining lobes as in a leaf |
| stamens | one of the pollen-bearing organs of a flower; male part; made up of 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 |
| tuber | a thickened, short, usually subterranean stem having numerous buds called eyes; like a potato |
| undivided | not divided; of one part |
| whorled | with three or more leaves or other structures arranged in a circle around a stem or common axis |
| wings | membranous or thin expansion bordering or surrounding an organ such as a stem |
| winter annual | an annual plant that germinates in the fall, completing its life cycle the following year |
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