A botanical reference guide of morphological terms, plant structures, propagation techniques, and campus flora definitions.
Explore terms organized by botanical structure, morphology, and arboricultural concepts.
Imbricate Overlapping like roof shingles. This feature helps describe plant form, function, or identification. Did you know? Pine cone scales overlap imbricately like shingles, protecting seeds until the cone opens.
Impressed Located below the surface. This feature helps describe plant form, function, or identification.
Incised Cut by sharp and irregular incisions around the edge. This feature helps describe plant form, function, or identification.
Indurate Hardened. This feature helps describe plant form, function, or identification.
Inferior Beneath, below. This feature helps describe plant form, function, or identification. Did you know? Apples develop from flowers with inferior ovaries; the fleshy apple includes tissue around the ovary as well as the ovary itself.
Inflorescence The flowering part of a plant. This feature helps explain how flowers are arranged, how pollination happens, or how seeds begin to form.
Internode The portion of a stem between two nodes. This feature helps describe plant support, storage, water movement, or vegetative spread. Did you know? Leggy houseplants have long internodes because stems stretch toward light in low-light conditions.
Introrse Turned inward or opening inward. This feature helps describe plant form, function, or identification.
invasive Invasive plants have the potential to cause environmental, human health, or financial harm. However, this is a broad category that could contain native plants that can become problematic in optimal conditions. Did you know? Japanese knotweed is so aggressive that it can damage pavement, building foundations, and streambanks.
The Purdue Arboretum is a collaboration between the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture and Administrative Operations