Scandinavian Mountains over 2000 metres - James Baxter

Flora & Fauna › Glossary

Below is a glossary of terms used in the plant descriptions:

Alternate	Refers to leaves arising from opposite sides of the stem at regular staggered intervals
Annual	A plant which completes its life cycle from germination to fruiting, and then death, in a single season
Axil	The angle between the upper side of the leaf and the stem
Biennial	A plant which complete its life cycle in 2 years, germinating in the first and fruiting and dying in the second
Blade	The collective leafy components on a fern frond
Bulbis	A small bulb-like organ found in the leaf axils on the aerial stems of some plants
Calyx	The collective name for all the sepals
Dioecious	Having seperate male and female plants but borne on different plants
Lanceolate	Lance shaped and widest below middle, usually referring to leaf shape
Lobe	Referring to leaves that are divided but not completely separated by shallow or deep protrusions
Monoecious	Having separate male and female flowers, but on the same plant
Palmate	Leaf with lobes radiating from a common point like a hand
Perennial	A plant which survives many years, generally fruiting every year
Petiole	The leaf stalk
Pinnae	The leaflets of a pinnate leaf
Pinnate	A leaf with leaflets arranged either side of a common stalk
Pinnule	A leaflet on a pinnae which is pinnately divided, as on many ferns
Rhizome	A persistant underground creeping stem
Sepal	Often green leaflike scale covering the flower bud and remaing outside the petals
Spore	Microscopic body which becomes detached from the parent plant and from which a new plant can develop. Produced in the sporangium on the parent plant
Stolon	A creeping stem often on the surface growing from the base of erect stems
Rosette	A circular fan of leaves arising from a level, often the base
Umbel	An inflorescence in which all the stalks radiate from the same point

When referring to the height of a plant the following guide applies:

Low	Short	Medium	Tall
1-10cm	5-20cm	15-75cm	60-250cm