Glossary
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- Saccate
- Swollen or sac-shaped; see the second glume of Sacciolepis.
- Scabrous
- Rough to the touch; caused by short, stiff, angled hairs on the surface.
- Scarious
- Thin, dry, and membranous; not green (e.g., the margins of a Poa lemma).
- Second glume
- The uppermost of the two glumes; an odd-veined, empty bract of the spikelet.
- Secondary
- Not primary, subordinate; the branches that arise from the primary branches.
- Series
- Number or group of similar objects arranged in a row.
- Serrate
- Saw-toothed with the teeth angled toward the apex, sharp teeth.
- Sessile
- Without a pedicel or stalk.
- Setaceous
- Slender and bristle-like.
- Setae
- A rigid bristle; sharp pointed bristle.
- Sheath
- The lower part of a leaf that encloses the culm; typically open or split and overlapping at the margins.
- Sinuate
- Having a wavy margin.
- Solitary
- Single; one.
- Spathe
- A modified leaf sheath that subtends and often encloses some of the inflorescence.
- Spatheate
- Having a spathe.
- Species
- The scientific name of a plant; the genus name and the specific epithet together; also equal to the latin name or binomial
- Spherical
- Shaped like a globe or a ball.
- Spicate
- Spike-like; resembling a spike inflorescence but having both sessile and pedicellate spikelets or flowers.
- Spicate raceme
- An inflorescence type with a rachis bearing some combination of sessile and/or pedicellate spikelets at each node.
- Spike
- An unbranched inflorescence in which the spikelets are sessile on the rachis (main axis).
- Spikelet
- The basic unit of a grass inflorescence, usually consisting of two glumes , one or more florets on a short axis, the rachilla.
- Spines
- A sharp pointed, stiff body arising from the epidermis; in grasses these are usually flattened and modified inflorescence branches.
- Spiral
- An arrangement of objects along the outline of a coiled spring.
- Spreading
- Branches that are widely ascending to divergent from the main axis.
- Squarrose
- Spreading rigidly at right angle; usually the shape of bracts.
- Stamen
- The male organ of a flower, consisting of the pollen bearing anther on a slender filament. The collective term for stamen is androecium.
- Staminate
- Containing stamen but not the pistil.
- Sterile
- Without pistils. A sterile floret may be staminate or neuter. Not capable of producing a seed.
- Stigma
- The part of the ovary or style that receives the pollen for fertilization.
- Stipe
- A stalk beneath the spikelets and bristles of the genus Pennisetum
- Stolon
- A horizontal, above-ground stem with modified leaves, nodes, internodes, and axillary buds.
- Stoloniferous
- Bearing horizontal above ground stems that root at the nodes.
- Striate
- Marked with longitudinal grooves or lines; appearing striped.
- Sub
- A prefix used to denote a lesser degree, an inferior rank, or a lower position.
- Subequal
- Nearly equal in length.
- Subtend
- To be below and close to; refers to position.
- Subterranean
- Below ground or below the soil.
- Subulate
- Awl-shaped.
- Succulent
- Fleshy, soft or juicy.
- Systematics
- The broad field concerned with the study of the diversity of plants and their identification, naming, classification, and evolution.