achene
A small, dry, indehiscent, 1-seeded, usually hard fruit in which the ovary wall is free from the seed.

acorn
The fruit of oaks.

acorn cup
The involucre of an acorn (comprised of bracts).

acuminate
Gradually tapering to a point.

aggregation
A group composed of many distinct parts.

alternate
Any arrangement of parts along the axis other than opposite or whorled.

angled
Having definite corners and/or edges.

angular
Angled and not rounded. Used when an organ shows a determinate number of angles.

annual
A plant that completes its development in one year or season and then dies.

appressed
Pressed flat against another organ.

aromatic
Fragrant, pungent, spicy to smell or taste.

ascending
Rising or curving upward, but not erect.

attenuate
Gradually tapering to a very slender tio.

awn
A terminal slender bristle on an organ.

axil
Upper angle formed by a leaf or branch with the stem.

axillary
Situated in the axil.

basal
Relating to, or situated at, the base.

beak
A long, firm, slender point.

bearded
Bearing long stiff hairs.

berry
A pulpy, indehiscent fruit with few to many seeds.

bi
Latin prefix signifying two, twice, or doubly.

biennial
A plant that completes its development in two years and then dies (usually blooming the second year).

bifurcating
Becoming 2-forked or 2-pronged.

bilateral
Arranged on opposite sides.

bilaterally symmetrical
Referring to an organ which can be divided in only one place to yield mirror-image halves.

bipinnate
Doubly or twice pinnate; when both primary and secondary divisions of a leaf are pinnate.

bipinnatifid
Twice pinnately cleft, with the divisions extending deeply but not to the rachis or midvein.

bisexual
Referring to a flower that has both male and female flower parts. Usually used in describing plants that also have single-sexed flowers.

blade
The expanded portion of a flattened structure such as a leaf or flower petal; the blade of a grass leaf is the usually flattened, expanded portion above the sheath.

bract
A reduced leaf subtending a flower, usually associated with an inflorescence.

branched
Divided into multiple entities.

bunchgrass
Referring to grasses with growth forms that are clumped or tufted, rather than single-stemmed, sod-forming, etc.

calcareous
Used in referring to soil that contains an excess of available calcium, usually in the form of calcium carbonate.

calyx
The external, usually green, whorl of a flower, contrasted with the inner showy corolla; the portion of the flower composed of sepals.

canopy
The uppermost spreading branchy layer of a tree, shrub, or whole association of woody plants.

capsule
a dry, dehiscent, fruit with more than one carpel.

carpel
A foliar, ovule-bearing unit of a compound pistil, or a simple pistil.

caryopsis
A dry, hard, indehiscent, 1-seeded fruit with the thin ovary walls grown fast to seed coat; the characteristic fruit of grasses.

catkins
A spikelike inflorescence of unisexual flowers having bracts and no petals.

ciliate
With marginal hairs.

cleft
Cut about halfway to the midrib.

climax
The final or stable plant community in a successional series.