Glossary of terms

Analogous Of similar structure and function but with a different origin.

Appressed Flattened against a surface.

Axil The angle formed where two structures, such as veins, meet.

Cultivar A form selected and propagated for a particular, usually ornamental, quality.

Cupule The distinctive cup holding an acorn.

Deciduous A plant that loses all or most of its leaves at a particular time of year, usually autumn.

Elliptic Broadest in the centre, narrowing in each end.

Elliptic-oblong Between elliptic and oblong.

Epithet, specific A word which, when it follows the name of a genus, forms the complete name of the species. For example in the name Quercus insignis, the name of the genus is Quercus, the specific epithet is insignis.

Glabrous Without hairs.

Glaucous Bluish white.

Homologous Of similar structure and origin.

Impressed Sunken.

Inrolled Curved upwards.

Knopper gall An abnormal growth on an acorn formed as a response to the wasp Andricus quercuscalicis, which lays its eggs on the young acorns of Quercus robur.

Lanceolate Broadest towards the base, narrowed to the tip and more than three times as long as wide.

Leat A man-made stream leading to a mill.

Lobed / unlobed With our without relatively deep indentations.

Monophyletic A group or organisms consisting of an ancestor and all its descendants.

Oblanceolate Broadest towards the end, narrowed to the base and more than three times as long as wide.

Oblong Longer than broad with more or less parallel sides.

Obovate Broadest towards the end, narrowed to the base and less than three times as long as wide.

Ovate Broadest towards the end, narrowed to the base and less than three times as long as wide.

Ovoid Egg-shaped, broadest at the base.

Pachydermatous Resembling the hide of an elephant.

Petiole The stalk of a leaf.

Recurved Curved backwards.

Reticulate With a distinctly visible network of veins.

Scales Small, flattened structures such as found on a leaf or acorn cup.

Sessile Without a stalk.

Sinus The indentation between the lobes of a leaf.

Taper-pointed Gradually narrowing to a point.

Tomentose Covered with a layer of dense matted hairs.

Tomentum A covering of dense matted hairs.