[ Section A ]
[ Section B ]
[ Section C ]
[ Section D ]
[ Introduction ]
[ Beginning of Chapter ]
[ System of Characterization ]
[ Character Classification ]
[ Figures ]
[ Phytographic Literature ]
[ QUERY THE CHAPTER ]
 Section C.  GYMNOSPERM GLOSSARY 
(Contributed by James W.  Hardin, North Carolina State University, Raleigh.)
 A.  Vegetative Structures 
 
- Acicular Leaf.   Needle-like, long and slender; e.g., Pinus.  
- Awl-shaped Leaf.   Subulate; narrow, flat, stiff, sharp-pointed, usually less than 1/2 in.  long; e.g., Juniperus. 
- Fascicle.   Cluster of needles borne on a minute determinate short shoot in the axil of a primary leaf (bract); e.g., Pinus.  
- Fascicle Sheath.   Closely imbricated bud scales at the base of the fascicle of needles; e.g., Pinus. 
- Linear Leaf.   Narrow, flattened, triangular, or quadrangular leaf usually 1/2-2 in.  long; e.g., Taxus, Picea.  
- Long Shoot.   Elongated internodes, rapid annual growth. 
- Multinodal Shoot.   Spring shoot developing from the terminal winter bud and producing 2 or more whorls of branches; the cones are partly lateral in the middle of the shoot; e.g., Pinus echinata. 
- Needle.   Acicular; slender, elongated leaf, usually over 2 in long; e.g., Pinus. 
- Peg (sterigmata).   Lateral stem projection to which leaf is attached and persistent after leaf dehiscence; i.e., abscission layer between peg and leaf.  Leaf may be sessile; e.g., Picea; or petiolate; e.g., Tsuga, on the peg. 
- Scale Leaf.   Small, usually appressed and imbricate; e.g.,  Juniperus, Thuja.  
- Short Shoot.   Very short or inconspicuous internodes and growth very slow if at all. 
- Determinate.   No continued growth; shoot with leaves drops as a unit; e.g., Pinus fascicle.
- Indeterminate.   Continued growth by an apical meristem; spur-branch; e.g., Larix, Cedrus, Ginkgo.  
 
- Uninodal Shoot.   Spring shoot developing from the terminal winter bud and producing only one internode with one whorl of branches at the end; the cones are subterminal at the end of the shoot; e.g., Pinus resinosa.  
 B.  Reproductive Structures 
- Apophysis.   Exposed outer surface of either an ovuliferous scale or megasporophyll as seen when the cone is closed. 
- Aril.   An outgrowth from the stem forming a fleshy covering of the seed; e.g., Taxus, Torreya; or only rudimentary at base of the fleshy seed; e.g., Cephalotaxus. 
- Bract.   Modified leaf subtending the ovuliferous scale; may be distinct or fused to the scale. 
- Cone (strobilus).   Aggregation of sporangia-bearing structures at tip of the stem (either sporophylls or scales in the Gymnosperms).
- Female Cone (megasporangiate strobilus).   Bearing ovules or seeds.
- Male Cone (microsporangiate strobilus).   Bearing pollen sacs (microsporangia). 
 
- Epimatium.   Fleshy covering of the seed and more or less fused with the integument; arising from the chalazal end of the ovule like an additional integument; e.g., Podocarpus. 
- Megasporophyll.   Modified leaf bearing o w les; e.g., Zamia.  
- Microsporophyll.   Modified leaf bearing microsporangia or pollen sacs. 
- Ovuliferous Scale.   Highly modified lateral branch in the axil of a leaf (bract), and bearing ovules.  May be flat or peltate, woody or fleshy; e.g., Pinaceae. 
- Receptaculum.   A fleshy structure below the seed formed from the bases of bracts and the swollen receptacle or cone axis; e.g.,Acmopyle, and some Podocarpus spp. 
- Umbo.  Projection, with or without spine or prickle, on the apophysis of the cone scale. 
[ Section A ]
[ Section B ]
[ Section C ]
[ Section D ]
[ Introduction ]
[ Beginning of Chapter ]
[ System of Characterization ]
[ Character Classification ]
[ Figures ]
[ Phytographic Literature ]
[ QUERY THE CHAPTER ]