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Term	Definition
Actinomorphic flower	A flower, capable of being divided, by more than one line passing through the middle of the flower, into two equal parts that are mirror images of one another; e.g., in Gustavia (Lecythidaceae), species of Myrtaceae, and species of Rubiaceae. Same as polysymmetric, radially symmetrical, and regular flowers and opposite of zygomorphic, monosymmetric, bilateral, and irregular flowers. This term can refer to other plant parts as well.
Aestivation	The arrangement of the parts of the perianth in the floral bud.
Androecial hood	In the Lecythidaceae, the distal part of the ligule that has become modified either structurally by coiling inward or by the production of staminodes, vestigial stamens, or nectar-producing vestigial stamens. Androecial hoods are usuallly separated from the staminal ring by an appendage-free part of the ligule (the only known exception is Couroupita nicaraguarensis and perhaps a species of the Lecythis sec. Pisonis group not yet identified. Androecial hoods of Lecythidaceae vary according to their degree of structural complexity and the type of androecial appendages they possess.
Androecium (plural = androecia)	The collective term for the staminate structures (i.e., the stamens and staminodes) of a flower; the stamens as a unit.
Androgynophore	A stalk that is elevated above the point of perianth attachment and supports the androecium and gynoecium; e.g., species of Passifloraceae.
Androphore	A stalk elevated above the point of perianth attachment and supporting the stamens; e.g., the united filaments of species of Menispermaceae and Myristicaceae.
Antepetalous	Referring to structures, usually stamens, inserted opposite or facing the petals.
Antesepalous	Referring to structures, usually stamens, inserted opposite or facing the sepals.
Anther	The pollen-bearing part of the stamen.
Anther dehiscence lateral	Referring to the anthers of many flowering plants that open along the side.
Anther versatile	A stamen in which the filament is attached to the anther above the base of the anther.
Antherode	The anther of a staminode; an anther that bears pollen that does not germinate; in the Lecythidaceae, antherodes are found in the androecial hood and in the innermost row of anthers on the ligular side of the staminal ring of some species, in the Lecythidaceae antherodes are often different in color, usually yellow, than the anthers of the stamens which are usually white.
Anthers basifixed	Referring to an anther attached to the filament at its base.
Anthesis	The expanding and opening of a flower.
Antipodals	Three cells located at the end of the matural megagametophyte opposite the micropyle. These cell apparently have no function and desintegrate after fertilization.
Apetalous flower	Without petals.
Apical placentation	A type of placentation in which the ovules are attached at the apex of the locule. See placentation.
Axile placentation	A type of ovule arrangement in which the ovules arise from placental tissue derived from the apices of the septa of a locule. In this type of placentation the apices of the septa are fused or in very close proximity to one another.
Banner	The upper, broad petal of Fabaceae. Same as standard, banner, and vexillum with standard the preferred term.
Basal placentation	A type of placentation in which the ovules arise from the base of the locule.
Bilaterally symmetrical flower	A flower capable of being divided into only two equal parts (mirror images) by a line passing through the middle of a flower, i.e., other lines passing the middle of the flower will not give mirror images of one another; same as zygomorphic, monosymmetric, and irregular flowers and opposite of actinomorphic, monosymmetric, radially symmetrical, and regular flowers. This term can refer to other plant parts as well.
Bilocular	Having two locules.
Biseriate perianth	Referring to a perianth with two whorls or rows; i. e. with both calyx and corolla. Compare with uniseriate.
Bisexual flower	Referring to a flower with a functional androecium and a functional gynoecium. Same as perfect.
Bracteole	A small bract usually inserted on the pedicel.
Bracteoles above articulation	Bracteoles inserted above the articulation in the pedicel/hypanthium continuum of Lecythidaceae.
Bracteoles below articulation	Bracteoles inserted below the articulation in the pedicel/hypanthium continuum of Lecythidaceae.
Callus	A thickened part of an organ; e.g., in some Orchidaceae, the fleshy outgrowth of the labellum, or in the Poaceae, the hardened base of the spikelet or floret just above the point of disarticulation.
Calyx (plural = calyces)	The outer circle or first whorl of floral parts; a collective term for the sepals.
Calyx-lobe	Similar to sepal but used to describe the lobe of a calyx with the sepals fused at their bases and with free lobes at the apex; less frequenly to describe species of some families that have inferior ovaries with the lower part of the calyx hypothesized to be fused to the ovary at the base but with free lobes departing from the apex of the ovary.
Carpel	The fundamental unit of the gynoecium, often considered to be a folded, specialized leaf.
Carpellate flower	Referring to unisexual flowers with functional gynoecia but without functional stamens (staminodes may be present). Same as female or carpellate flowers.
Choripetalous corolla	Haviing petals free from one another. Same as polypetalous; opposite of gamopetalous and sympetalous.
Clavuncle	The expanded distal part of the style, including the stigma, in some species of Apocynaceae. Same as style head.
Coiled pedicel	A pedicel that coils like a spring after the fruits start to form, a mechanism found in a few species of plants and functions to bring the fruits closer to the ground, presumably to make it easier for animals to disperse the seeds.
Column	In the Orchidaceae, the structure formed by the fused androecium and gynoecium.
Complete flower	A flower with all whorls of floral parts; i.e., calyx, corolla, stamen(s), and gynoecium. Compare with incomplete flower.
Compound pistil	A gynoecium composed of more than one carpel, same as compound ovary.
Corolla	The second whorl of floral parts; the collective term for the petals.
Corolla lobe	In a symetalous corolla, the upper, free segments.
Corolla throat	In a sympetalous corolla, the opening into the corolla tube.
Corolla tube	In a gamopetalous corolla, the lower fused part.
Corona	A structure located between the petals and the stamens of some flowers and derived from either of these organs; e.g., in Passiflora (Passifloraceae), some Apocynaceae subfamily Asclepiadoideae, and some Melastomataceae.
Corpusculum	A structure connecting the two translators of the pollinia of Apocynaceae subfamily Asclepiadoideae, sometimes referred to as the “gland.”
Crassinucellate ovules	The presence of two or more cell layers between the megasporophyte and the epidermal cells in the early development of the megasporophyte which will develop into the ovule.
Diadelphous stamens	Stamens united into two, often unequal, sets; e.g., those of many Fabaceae, which have nine stamens in one set and one stamen in the other.
Didynamous stamens	With two pairs of stamens of unequal length.
Differentiated anthers	Referring to anthers that bear two types of pollen: 1) fertile pollen that is transferred to other flowers to effect fertilization and 2) sterile (= fodder) pollen that serves as a pollinator reward. The two types of pollen may differ in their ability to germinate, in their color (fodder pollen is often yellow), and in their morphology (e.g., the fertile anthers of Couroupita guianensis are in monads and the sterile ones are in tetrads), and their location (e. g., the fertile anthers are near the stigma and the sterile ones are in a group separate from the stigma in many species of Swartzia.
Diplostemony (diplostemonous)	With two series of stamens; those of the outer series inserted opposite the sepals, those of the inner series inserted opposite the petals. Compare with obdiplostemonous. Diplostemony is sometimes very difficult to determine in flowers at anthesis but becomes apparent with microtome and SEM studies of bud development of obdiplostemony which is also applicable to diplostemony (Endress, 2010).
Disc	A fleshy, lobed, or annular nectariferous structure found within flowers; the position can be either outside or within the stamens. Preffered spelling is disc. Not to be confused with disk flower in the Asteraceae.
Disk flower	An actinomorphic flower with a tubular corolla found in Asteraceae. Compare with ray flower.
Double calyx	A calyx with two apparent whorls; e.g., the calyx of Amphilophium painculatum.
Epicalyx	A whorl of bracts on the pedicel, similar to sepals, and inserted below the calyx; most commonly found in species of Malvaceae..
Epigynous ovary	Referring to a flower in which all or some of the floral parts (i.e., the sepals, petals, and stamens) arise from the summit of the ovary; e.g., species of Asteraceae and Rubiaceae.
External flap	In the Lecythidaceae, a flap that extends outward from the inner coil of the androecial to cover at least part of the top of the androecial hood. This structure is only fully developed in species of Couratari although incipient external flaps are found in several species of Eschweilera (e.g., Eschweilera cyathiformis and E. ovalifolia).
Female flower	Referring to unisexual flowers with functional gynoecia but without functional stamens (staminodes may be present). Same as staminate flower.
Filament	The stalk of the stamen terminated by the anther; in Orchidaceae, the sterile portion of the stamen forming part of the column.
Flag	The upper, broad petal of Fabaceae. Same as banner, standard, and flag with standard the preferred term.
Floral aromas	Aromas emitted by plants to attract pollinators. These aromas can be extracted from plants by enclosing the flowers in bags or glass globes and then pumping the air from around the flowers through a tube with adsorbents. The samples are passed though a Gas Chromatograph and the chemical composition of the aromas of different flowers are identified by comparing the samples with a database of known compounds (Knudsen & Mori, 1996). There is a correlation between different floral aromas and the pollinators that visit the flowers.
Floret	In the Poaceae, the term includes the lemma and palea as well as the enclosed flower; sometimes used to refer to the flowers of Asteraceae.
Fodder pollen	Pollen that does not germinate and serves as a pollinator reward. This has been demonstrated in Couroupita guianensis and Lecythis pisonis (Mori et al., 1980) and is hypothesized for other species that appear to have staminodes on the inside of a flat hood or in stamens on the ligular side of the staminal ring.
Funicle (funiculus)	The cord that attaches the ovule and subsequently the seed to the fruit wall.
Funneliform	Usually referring to a corolla in the shape of a funnel but can also be applied to other structures with a similar shape.
Fused (fusion)	Referring to similar structures fused to each other, such as the petals of a sympetalous corolla. Same as connate. Compare with adnate and connivent.
Gamopetalous corolla	Having petals united for at least part of their length. Same as sympetalous; Opposite of polypetalous and choripetalous.
Gamosepalous calyx	Having sepals united for at least part of their length. Same as synsepalous calyx.
Glume	A bract at the base of a spikelet in the Poaceae.
Gynobasic style	Referring to a style arising from the base of the ovary. Gynobasic styles are of two types: 1) the style is inserted laterally at the base of a syncarpous ovary as in Chrysobalanaceae and Rhabdodendraceae 2) the style arises from the center of an apocarpous ovary as in many species of Lamiaceae.
Gynoecium apocarpous	Referring to a gynoecium of distinct carpels; e.g., many species of Annonaceae, Crassulaceae, Menispermaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, etc. Compare with syncarpous.
Gynoecium syncarpous	A gynoecium composed of fused carpels.
Gynophore	Stalk of the ovary; e.g., in Capparaceae and Simaroubaceae. Same as stipe.
Gynostemium	In the Aristolochiaceae, a structure formed by the fusion of the stamens to the style and stigma.
Haplostemonous	Referring to an androecium with a single series of stamens in one whorl.
Heteranthery (adj. = heterantherous)	A flower that contains two types of pollen, one that germinates and is found in anthers and another that does not germinate and is found antherodes; the latter serves as a pollinator reward.
Heteranthery (heterantherous)	Heteromorphic stamens of a species of Swartzia from an unvouchered plant from Amazonas, Brazil. This is also called heteranthery and when there are only two variations in the morphology of a structure it can also be referred to as dimorphic. This species is apocarpic as evidenced by the separate styles, a rare occurence in legumes which in general have species with a single pistil. Same as differentiated anthers.

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