The following terms should become a part of your working vocabulary. This list of definitions should be used to supplement the descriptions and illustrations found in your North American Trees text. To ensure that you understand their meanings, a vocabulary quiz will be given early in the quarter. For the vocabulary quiz you will be required to define 10 of the terms below.

LEAVES
Retention	deciduous, persistent
Attachment	alternate, clustered, fascicle, opposite, whorled, decussate
Parts	blade, leaflet, margin, petiole, stipule
Types	compound, palmately compound, pinately compound, simple
Shapes	needle, awl-shaped, elliptical, lanceolate, linear, oblanceolate, ovate, scale, cordate
Margins	entire, lobed, revolute, serrate
Tips	acuminate, acute, notched, obtuse, truncate
Veins	arcuate, palmate, parallel, pinnate
Surfaces	glabrous, glaucous, pubescent
Other terms	bract, node, petiolate, sessile, involucre
FLOWERS
Basic types	dioecious, monoecious; complete, incomplete, imperfect, perfect
Inflorescence	ament or catkin, cyme, head, raceme, panicle, spike
Parts	anther, calyx, corolla, filament, ovary, ovule, perianth, petal, pistil, sepal, stamen, stigma, style
SEED-BEARING STRUCTURES
Gymnosperms	aril, cone
Angiosperms	achene, berry, capsule, drupe, involucre, legume, nut, pome, samara,
TWIGS
Parts	bud, bud scale, cambium, cruciform buds, imbricate scales, lateral bud, leaf scar, lenticel, pith, shoot, spine or thorn, sterigmata, terminal bud
TREE FORM
General	excurrent, deliquescent

The following terms should become a part of your working vocabulary. This list of definitions should be used to supplement the descriptions and illustrations found in the "Basic Features of Trees" section (pps. 13-17) of your Trees of North America text. To ensure that you understand their meanings, a vocabulary quiz will be given early in the quarter. For the vocabulary quiz you will be required to define 10 of the terms below.

LEAVES
Retention	deciduous, persistent
Attachment	alternate, clustered, fascicle, opposite, whorled, decussate
Parts	blade, leaflet, margin, petiole, stipule
Types	compound, palmately compound, pinately compound, simple
Shapes	needle, awl-shaped, elliptical, lanceolate, linear, oblanceolate, ovate, scale, cordate
Margins	entire, lobed, revolute, serrate
Tips	acuminate, acute, notched, obtuse, truncate
Veins	arcuate, palmate, parallel, pinnate
Surfaces	glabrous, glaucous, pubescent
Other terms	bract, node, petiolate, sessile, involucre
FLOWERS
Basic types	dioecious, monoecious; complete, incomplete, imperfect, perfect
Inflorescence	ament or catkin, cyme, head, raceme, panicle, spike
Parts	anther, calyx, corolla, filament, ovary, ovule, perianth, petal, pistil, sepal, stamen, stigma, style
SEED-BEARING STRUCTURES
Gymnosperms	aril, cone
Angiosperms	achene, berry, capsule, drupe, involucre, legume, nut, pome, samara,
TWIGS
Parts	bud, bud scale, cambium, cruciform buds, imbricate scales, lateral bud, leaf scar, lenticel, pith, shoot, spine or thorn, sterigmata, terminal bud
TREE FORM
General	excurrent, deliquescent

Retention

deciduous - shed annually at the end of the growing season

persistent (evergreen) - remaining attached one to several years

Attachment

alternate -a single leaf at each node
clustered - in false whorls at tips of lateral spurs, without a basal sheat
fascicle - bundle of 2 to 5 leaves enclosed at base by sheat
opposite - two leaves at each nod
whorled - more than 2 leaves at each nod
decussate - opposite leaves, each pair at right angles to adjacent pair

Parts and Types

blade - the flat, expanded portion of a leaf
leaflet - a portion of a leaf blade that is subdivided into several smaller blades
margin - edge of the leaf
simple - not compound, having a single blade
compound - composed of 2 or more similar leaflets attached to a rachis
petiole - stem of a leaf
stipule - a leaflike appendage of the base of the petiole, usually one on each side of the petiole
palmately compound - a leaf composed of several leaflets radially diverging from the petiole like the spread of fingers on a hand
pinnately compound - a leaf composed of several leaflets arranged on each side of a common rachis

Shapes

needle - long and very narrow, circular in cross-section (needle-shaped
awl-shaped - broad at the base tapering to a sharp point at the ape
elliptical - oval, with the form of an ellipse, rounded about equally at both ends
lanceolate - lance-shaped, several times longer than wide, with the broad end basal
linear - long and narrow, with parallel edges
oblanceolate - lance-shaped with the broad end distal
ovate - shaped like the longitudinal section of an egg, with the broad end basal
scale - small, flattened (like fish scales)
cordate - heart-shape

Leaf Margins and Tips

entire - leaf margins without divisions, lobes or teeth
lobed - leaf margins with elongated pointed or rounded extensions
revolute - leaf margins rolled to underside
serrate - leaf margins toothed, teeth pointing upward or forward
acuminate - lleaf tip gradually tapering to the apex, long pointed
acute - leaf tip sharply pointed, but not drawn out
notched - leaf tip indented at the apex
obtuse - leaf tip blunt or rounded at the apex
truncate - leaf tip ending abruptly, as if cut off at end

 

Leaf veins 

arcuate - leaf veins curved toward apex
palmate - veins arising from one point
parallel - having the main veins extending through the leaf longitudinally and in parallel arrangement
pinnate - veins arising from each side of a common axis

Surfaces

glabrous - smooth without hairs

glaucous - white, waxy covering

pubescent - with fine hairs

Other Terms

bract - leaflike structure (modified leaf), provides a function other than for photosynthesis

node - point from which a leaf or branch emerges on a stem

petiolate - leaf attachment with a petiole

sessile - leaf attachment without a petiole

Definition: The reproductive structure of Angiosperms containing stamens and/or pistils (with or without other parts, see below)

Basic terms 

dioecious - unisexual, the staminate and pistillate flowers on different individuals

monoecious - bisexual, the stamens and pistils in separate flowers but borne on the same individual

complete - flowers having sepals, petals and the two vital reproductive parts--the pollen producing stamens (male) and the pistils (female) with basal ovary enclosing ovules

incomplete - flowers lacking one or more of these four parts

imperfect - unisexual flowers have either stamens or pistils but not both

perfect - flowers having both stamens and pistils, sepals and petals may or may not be present

Inflorescence - a dense group of flowers on a stem

ament, or catkin - a scaly bracted spike of usually unisexual flowers, frequently deciduous in one piece
cyme - a flat-topped loose flower cluster, flowers with stalks
head - a dense, flat or round inflorescence; flowers without stalks
panicle - a compound raceme
spike - a simple inflorescence of sessile flowers arranged on a common, elongated axis
raceme - a simple inflorescence of stalked flowers on a more or less elongated axis

Parts

anther - the pollen-bearing part of the stamen
calyx - all of the leaflike bracts subtending the corolla
corolla - all of the petals
filament - the stalk of the anther
ovary - the part of the pistil that contains the ovules
ovule - seed before fertilization
perianth - calyx plus corolla
petal - a division of the corolla or inner part of the perianth, typically colorful to attract pollinators
pistil - female organ of a flower, consisting of ovary, style and stigma
sepal - a division of the calyx, usually bract-like
stamen - the pollen-bearing (male) organ of the flower
stigma - the part of a pistil that receives pollen for fertilization of the ovules
style - narrow upward extension of the pistil between the ovary and the stigma

 

 Seeds - the completely matured and modified ovule containing an embryo

 Gymnosperms - plants bearing naked seeds (simple wood composed mainly of tracheids)

 aril - a seed partially enclosed by red, fleshy covering

cone - female, large structure with seeds on overlapping scales; male, small structure with pollen sacs

Angiosperms - plants with seeds in an ovary (complex wood composed mainly of vessels and fibers)

FRUITS: Mature ovary containing seeds

achene - a dry, indehiscent, 1-seeded fruit (usually small)
berry - a fleshy fruit with embedded seed
capsule - a dry fruit of more than one ovary that splits at maturity to release seeds
drupe - a stone fruit from superior ovary, such as a plum or cherry
involucre - a cluster of fused bract surrounding a group of flowers
legume - furit of the pea family, pod-like and splitting oben at both sides
nut - a hard, indehiscent, 1-seeded fruit produced from a compound ovary
pome - an inferior fruit of 2 or several ovaries enclosed in thick flesh, such as an apple
samara - an indehiscent, winged fruit

TWIGS

bud - the undeveloped state of a shoot, with or without scales
bud scale - hardened scale-like structures covering buds
cambium - layer of dividing cells beneath the bark, increases stem diameter
cruciform buds - 3 buds fused in the shape of a cross
imbricate scales - overlapping like shingles
lateral bud - along twigs, typically in axils of leaves
leaf scar - scar left on a twig by the abscission of a leaf
lenticel - a corky growth on young bark that admits air to the interior of a twig or branch
pith - the central softer part of a stem
shoot - a unit of vegetative growth; including twigs, buds and leaves
spine, thorn - a sharp, mostly woody outgrowth in the position of a leaf or stipule
sterigmata - small woody, peg-like projections to which leaves are attached
terminal bud - at apex of a twig

excurrent - tree trunk continuous to top; many small lateral branches, slender silhouette
deliquescent - tree trunk dividing into many large lateral branches; umbrella-shaped silhouett

  

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