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Glossary of botanical terms used in the OpenKey Project

The terms defined here mostly correspond to character states and characters in the OpenKey Project plant description database. The definitions, while reflecting general usage in the botanical literature, are sometimes more narrow than the possible range of meanings for the terms. The intention was to create definitions that permit making distinctions useful for plant identification in the field, rather than to produce a more broadly applicable botanical glossary.

The glossary was compiled and edited by Stephen M. Seiberling of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Alan S. Weakley and Peter S. White, both of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Kenneth R. Robertson of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, contributed to the glossary. Numerous published sources were also consulted. The principal source used for each definition is listed in brackets at the end of the entry. Definitions with no source listed were written by the editor. The electronic version of this glossary was created by Rebecca Pappert and Jeff Campbell of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Entries that define OpenKey Project character states list the botanical structure(s) to which the term applies in square brackets after the term. The botanical structure is immediately followed by the category of application of the term, as used in this project, in curly brackets. The definition is then given, often including a list of contrasting or similar terms in conventional parentheses. The source for the definition is listed lastly in square brackets. The format for entries in schematic form is:

Term- [Botanical structure] {category of application} Definition. (Terms for comparison.) [source reference]

For example:

Acicular- [Leaflets, Leaves] {shape} Very long and slender, gradually tapering to a point, like a needle; needle-shaped. (Compare with awl-shaped, filiform and linear.) [modified from K&P, p. 11]

Combining the botanical structure with its associated category of application yields the name of the OpenKey character to which the term applies. Thus, in the above example, the characters to which the term acicular applies are, “Leaflets shape” and “Leaves shape” (or, in more common usage, Leaflet shape and Leaf shape).

When no botanical structure and category of application are listed, the term does not represent an OpenKey character state, but is included to help define other terms such as characters or words that appear within the definitions.

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