Life cycle
how long a plant lives and its pattern of reproduction
Annual
completes life cycle from seed to seed in one year.
Summer annual
germinate in the spring or early summer and go to seed in the late summer or autumn of the same year.
Winter annual
typically germinate in the late summer or autumn and produce seed and die the following spring or summer.
Biennial
completes life cycle from seed to seed in two years. germinates -> 1st year grows vegetatively -> 2nd year flowers and dies
Perennial
lives for several years and once mature produces seeds each year
Habit
the general appearance of a plant or its mode of growth
Woody
tough; trees and shrubs
Herbaceous
soft tissue; herbs
Suffrutescent
woody only at base, the stem is herbaceous
Vine
a plant with a stem that is not self-supporting but which climbs or trails on another plant or structure. usually herbaceous
Liana
a woody vine ex: wild grape
Erect
vertical stem
Ascending
stem growing obliquely upwards usually curved
Prostrate
stem laying flat on the ground
Creeping
stem growing along the surface of the ground and producing roots
Caulescent
an aerial stem with typical nodes and elongated internodes
Acaulescent
appearing to lack a stem because internodes are very short
Internode
a segment of a plant stem between the points where leaves are attached.
Nodes
points of growth where leaves and buds are found at
Axil
angle between petiole and stem
Erect
vertical stem
Stolons/Runners
on the surface or above ground stem
Rhizomes
horizontal underground stems
Stem Tubers
swollen below ground storage units
Lamina
the blade of the leaf
Petiole
the stalk of a leaf, which joins the leaf to a node of the stem
Stipules
a pair of leaf like appendages at the base of the petiole
Spines
modified leaf stipules. you can identify spines because they are in pairs like stipules
Thorn
modified branch. you can identify thorns because it will have nodes and internodes
Prickles
outgrowths of the epidermis
Tendril
a slender threadlike appendage of a climbing plant, often growing in a spiral form, that stretches out and twines around any suitable support.
Deciduous leaves
fall off in a particular season
Evergreen leaves
longer-lived leaves, don't need to be replaced each year
Marcescence
the retaining of dead leaves and other tree parts over winter. very rare
Alternate
one leaf per node
Whorled
three or more leaves per node
Opposite
two leaves per node
Simple leaf
a leaf that has an undivided blade, not divided into smaller units
Pinnate leaf
a leaf resembling a feather; having the leaflets on each side of a common petiole extension called a rachis
Palmate leaf
a leaf resembling an open hand; having lobes radiating from a common point
Petiolate
leaf with a petiole
Sessile
there is no petiole, leaves grow directly from the stem
Perfoliate
a sessile leaf with the stem passing through the blade
Sheathing
protective lower part of the leaf wraps around the stem
Peltate
stem attached centrally to leaf