Glossary

Accent Plant- This could be a focal point plant. A plant to catch attention. Could also be called an anchor plant.

Aerial Root - A root which grows out from the stem above ground level. Aerial roots are commonly seen on mature specimens of Monstera deliciosa.

Aquatic - Plant which grows partially or completely in water.

Bedding Plant - Usually an annual plant temporarily in a garden display. Some interstates have "smiley faces" that are done in a bedding plant display. Sometimes called carpet bedding.

Banner - The large upright flower petal in plants of the Pea Family. The "wings", which enclose the "keel", extend outward from the bottom of the banner.

Bract - A modified leaf that encases and then subtends the flower after the flower opens.

Calyx - The collection of sepals. The outer segment of a flower that encases and then surrounds the petals.

Canyons - Deep and long depressions with walls of cliffs and slopes. Pinyon Pine, Juniper, Sagebrush are common. The Four Corners area is rich in deep, long, and beautiful red and white sandstone rock canyons.

Carpel - A flower's female reproductive organ, consisting of the stigma, style, and ovary and made of an inrolled leaf.

Ciliate - Fringed on the margins with hairs. These hairs, usually on the edges of leaves, are sometimes one of the keys to distinguishing between species.

Dioecious - (Pronounced, die e cious -- rhymes with "delicious") A dioecious species bears its male (staminate) flowers on one plant and female (carpellate) flowers on another. See Monoecious.

Deciduous - A plant which sheds all of its leaves each year in the fall.

Endemic - Found only in a small region, in a particular ecological niche.

Evergreen - A plant which retains a large portion of its leaves all year.

Herb or Herbaceous - A plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter. See Woody.

Inflorescence - A flower cluster. The main types of inflorescences are spikes, racemes, panicles, corymbs, umbels and cymes.

Phyllary - The name for the bract below the flower head in the Sunflower Family. Picture of phyllaries.

Pinnate - Latin "pinnat" means "feathered. The term is used to describe leaves that have a primary central axis from which subdivisions branch off, usually nearly perpendicularly.

Perennial - A plant that lives and blooms for many years. See Annual and Biennial.

Pistillate - Containing only carpels, only female floral parts. See staminate, carpel.