Learn: Plant Morphology Terms

Woody

a perennial plant that produces hard, rigid, structural tissue called wood (secondary xylem) made of cellulose and lignin

Herbaceous

non-woody plant

Perennial

A plant in which the vegetative structure lives year after year

Annual

A plant whose life cycle is completed in a single growing season

Evergreen

Leaves that remains green through more than one growing season

Deciduous

All leaves are shed seasonally

Tree

A woody perennial plant generally with a single stem (trunk)

Shrub

A woody perennial plant with generally lower stature than a tree, typically with several stems arising from near the ground

Forb

A broad-leaved, herbaceous flowering plant that does not have a woody stem

Graminoid

A grass-like plant, including sedges, rushes, and true grasses with narrow blade-like leaves

Vine

A woody or herbaceous plant whose stem requires support and has a trailing or climbing growth habit; liana may sometimes be used to describe woody vines

Trichomes

hairs present on epidermal cells (leaves and stems), fuzzy in appearance or glandular imparting an aroma when touched (i.e. tomato leaf)

Tendril

thin, thread-like plant part that curls around objects to help climbing plants

Terminal (apical) bud

Primary growth point at the tip of the stem that forms the dominant bud

Apical dominance

terminal bud tends to inhibit outgrowth of axillary buds; removal of the terminal bud leads to branching (from lateral buds)

Lateral (auxiliary) bud

embryonic shoot located in the axil of a leaf

Bud scale

specialized leaves that form around and protect the bud

Rhizome

horizontal underground stem

Tuber

thickened underground stem OR a modified lateral root

Petiole

a leaf stalk

Node

where the petiole attaches to the stem

Internode

areas between adjacent stems

Stipules

modified leaves that originate from the base of the leaf (petiole)

Petiolule

the stalk of a leaflet in a compound leaf

Rachis

the central axis of a compound structure (leaflets attach to this in compound leaves; can also be the central stalk of an inflorescence)

Leaf Blade

Leaf Margin

the outer edge of a leaf

Petiole

The part which attaches directly to a leaf, and then attaches to the stem

Stipulate

A leaf that has a stipule

Exstipulate

A leaf that has NO stipule

Leaf Midrib

The central line of a leaf

Leaf vein

The lines of a leaf which extend from the leaf's midrib

If a leaf is sessile, does it have a petiole?

No it has no petiole

Sessile

Clasping base leaf

(D)