Purdue Arboretum botanical terminology reference and learning database.
Fruit A ripened seed-containing ovary. This feature helps explain how flowers are arranged, how pollination happens, or how seeds begin to form. Did you know? Botanically, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, peppers, and beans are fruits because they develop from flower ovaries.
Funnelform Describing a flower whose petals form a funnel shape. This feature helps explain how flowers are arranged, how pollination happens, or how seeds begin to form. Did you know? Funnelform flowers often guide pollinators toward nectar at the base of the tube.
Glume One of the paired bracts at the base of a grass spikelet; a chaffy bract in grasses or sedges. Did you know? Grass identification often depends on tiny bracts such as glumes, lemmas, and paleas.
Gymnosperm The group of plants having naked seeds, not encased in an ovary. Did you know? Ginkgo is a gymnosperm and a living fossil with no close living relatives.
Hilum A scar indicating the previous point of attachment of a seed or ovary Did you know? The hilum is easy to see on a bean seed as the small scar where the seed was attached to the pod.
Hypanthium A cup-shaped extension of the floral axis, commonly surrounding or enclosing the pistils. Did you know? Rose hips form from an enlarged hypanthium and are rich in vitamin C.
Inflorescence The flowering part of a plant. This feature helps explain how flowers are arranged, how pollination happens, or how seeds begin to form.
Lamina The flat surface or blade of a leaf or petal.
Lemma The lower of the two bracts (lemma and palea), which subtend a grass floret, often partially surrounding the palea.
Limb A tree branch or the expanded part of a petal or leaf.
The Purdue Arboretum is a collaboration between the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture and Administrative Operations