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Chalaza
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The part of an ovule or seed opposite the micropyle. In this part of the embryo sac the integument(s) are not differentiated from the nucellus.. |
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Chambered pith
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Referring to a pith that has chambers in the stem caused by septations at right angles to the long axis. |
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Character
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A morphological, anatomical, or molecular feature of an organism that helps distinguish a taxon from other taxa. |
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Character state
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The variation in a character of a plant, e.g., flower color is a character and if there are only blue and white flowers in a given species these two colors represent character states. |
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Chasmogamy (chasmogamous)
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Referring to flowers that open before fertilization and usually are cross-pollinated. |
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Chevron
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A V-shaped pattern most commonly associated with leaves. |
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Chimera
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An animal or a plant with genetically and morphologically different tissue on the same plant. The term is derived from Greek mythology and refers to a mythological animal composed of a lion, goat, and a serpent. Sometimes this term is also used to describe a plant derived from grafting, e.g., stems of Brazil nut trees grafted onto the root stock of another Brazil nut tree resulting in parts of the same tree with different genetic makeups. In Lecythidaceae, we use this term to describe the spontaneous occurence of anomalous flowers on a plant with normal flowers and assume that this difference is caused by a mutation. |
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Chiropterochory (chiropterochorous)
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Referring to diaspores that are carried away from the mother plant by bats. Most bat-dispersed seeds dispersed by bats have either berry-like fruits or fruits with the seeds provided with a fleshy associated structure such as an aril. A few other species have the fruits surrounded by a fleshy perianth (e.g., the diaspores of species of Cecropia). Same as bat-dispersed. |
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Chiropterophily
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Pollination by bats. There are two main types of bat pollinaton. In one type the bats are relatively small and capable of hovering in front of flowers, these bats occupy the same nich occupied by hummingbirds during the day and belong to the subfamily Glossophaginae. Most of the flowers pollinated by this group of bats have tubular or bell-shaped flowers but they do visit flowers of the other type as well. In the other type, the bats land on the flowers and consist of many flowers aggregated into heads (e.g., species of Parkia) or are brush-like (e.g., Pseudobombax munguba). |
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Choripetalous corolla
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Haviing petals free from one another. Same as polypetalous; opposite of gamopetalous and sympetalous. |
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Ciliate (diminutive = ciliolate)
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Fringed on margin with straight trichomes finer than those of a fimbriate margin. |
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Cinereous
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Ash-colored or light gray. |
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Circumaustral
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Referring to a plant or animal distributed around the high latitudes of the southern hemisphere. |
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Circumferentially winged seed
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A wing completely surrounding the circumference of the seed. |
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Circumscissile capsule
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Dehiscing via a line around a fruit with the top usually falling off like the lid of a jar. |
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Circumscissile capsule
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Referring to a fruit that opens by an operculum. |
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Clade
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A monophyletic evolutionary line. |
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Cladode
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A flattened, green, photosynthetic stem; e.g., in some Cactaceae. |
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Clasping
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At least partially enclosing the axis; e.g., the base of a leaf that partially surrounds the stem on which it is borne. Same as amplexicaul. |
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Clavate
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Club-shaped; e.g., in the Lecythidaceae many of the stamens of zygomorphic-flowered species are clavate. |
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Clavuncle
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The expanded distal part of the style, including the stigma, in some species of Apocynaceae. Same as style head. |
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Claw (clawed)
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Referring to a structure, such as a petal, that is abruptly constricted toward the base (having a claw). Same as unguiculate. |
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Cleistogamy (cleistogamous)
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Referring to flowers that do not open and usually are self-fertilized. |
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Clipper pole (= plant pruner)
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Clipper poles are used to collect plants from trees, epiphytes, and lianas that are too high to collect from the ground. We prefer aluminum poles because they are lighter than fiber glass and wood poles. In addition, the fiber glass poles tend to split at the bottom of the pole. The clilpper pole cutting head should be as light as possible because it is extremely difficult to manipulate a pole off the vertical if the cutting head is too heavy. In addition, a heavy clipper head tends to bend the poles; thus making them much more difficut to handle. For more information about plant collecting see Tropical Plant Collecting: From the Filed to the Internet. This book can be purchased at: http://tecceditora.com/ or Amazon.com. |
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Clone
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A population of plants produced by asexual reproduction resulting in individual members with the same genetic composition. |
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