Dendrology Terminology

woody plants

long lived perennials. keep growing year after year

hemipiphytes

germinate in tree canopies

lianas

long stem woody vines

tree

tall, over >20ft. central woody stem(trunk)

shrub

short, less <20ft. multiple woody stems from ground.

conifer

mostly evergreen. don’t drop leaves or cones. soft wood. have needles. many of the late successional species.

broadleaves

monocots and dicots. usually bear flowers and fruits

monocot

parallel veins in leaves. angiosperms. no secondary growth.

dicots

wide broad leaves. evergreen or deciduous. netted veins in leaves. angiosperms

range

where the organism can evolve without human help. natural evolution.

parts of a leaf

venation

the pattern of veins

serrate margin

rigid outer layer, tooth jagged

entire margin

completely smooth

double serrate margin

large teeth, smaller teeth on larger teeth

pinate venation

palmate venation

alternate leaf arrangement

opposite leaf arrangement

whorled leaf arrangement

pith

very central part of the twig

spur shoots

branches where the inter-node do not grow much. does NOT elongate

round pith

angled pith

continuous pith

chambered pith

fascicles

only in pines. more than one needle attached to each leaf scar.

ternate arrangement

three needles per node

awl-like arrangement

short and triangular. sharply pointed

elliptical leaf shape

ovate leaf shape

lanceovate leaf shape

deltoid leaf shape

cordate leaf shape

common names

often numerous and in regional language. describes something about the tree.

scientific classification

ordering of things into groups based on shared characteristics

chinuk Wawa

trade language emerged in late 1700s. spoken by confederate tribes.

species

a group of organisms that share a lot of characteristics.

artificial classification

based on a few physical characteristics. arbitrary

natural classification

based on evolutional relationships.

pistil,stamen, sepals, petals

male or female? stamen

male

male or female? pistil

female

complete flower

has all four parts. pistil, stamen, sepals, petals

perfect flower

has all reproductive parts. male AND female

monoecious

individuals bear both staminate and pistillate flowers.

dioecious

two sexes. females bare distillates and males bare staminates

ovary position: superior

ovary position: inferior

inflorescence

a collection of flowers that share the same stalk

solitary flower

all alone. not inflorescent

catkin

all staminate or all pistillate

raceme orientation

panicle orientation

fruit development

flower parts fall off. ovary develops, becomes the fruit. ovule grows and develops into seed.

dehiscent

breaks open alone pre-determined lines or sutures

idehiscent

fused shut. does not open alone predetermined lines

follicle

one carpel, dehiscent, one line

capsule

multiple carpels, dehiscent, several lines of dehiscence.

legume

one carpel, dehiscent, two lines of dehiscence.

nut

indehiscent, single seed in hard shell

samara

indehiscent, single seed, paper wing, wind dispersal

drupe

fleshy fruit with single hard seed in center

pome

fleshy accessory fruit that develops an inferior ovary. seed embedded in papery to woody core

berry

fleshy fruit with seeds embedded in flesh

valvate arrangement

pendent

cones that hang downward. face ground

erect

cones that face up. perched. upright