Section C. Gymnosperm Glossary

(Contributed by James W. Hardin, North Carolina State University, Raleigh.)

A. Vegetative Structures

Acicular Leaf. Needle-like, long and slender; e.g., Pinus.

Awl-shaped Leaf. Subulate; narrow, flat, stiff, sharp-pointed, usually less than 1/2 in. long; e.g., Juniperus.

Fascicle. Cluster of needles borne on a minute determinate short shoot in the axil of a primary leaf (bract); e.g., Pinus.

Fascicle Sheath. Closely imbricated bud scales at the base of the fascicle of needles; e.g., Pinus.

Linear Leaf. Narrow, flattened, triangular, or quadrangular leaf usually 1/2-2 in. long; e.g., Taxus, Picea.

Long Shoot. Elongated internodes, rapid annual growth.

Multinodal Shoot. Spring shoot developing from the terminal winter bud and producing 2 or more whorls of branches; the cones are partly lateral in the middle of the shoot; e.g., Pinus echinata.

Needle. Acicular; slender, elongated leaf, usually over 2 in long; e.g., Pinus.

Peg (sterigmata). Lateral stem projection to which leaf is attached and persistent after leaf dehiscence; i.e., abscission layer between peg and leaf. Leaf may be sessile; e.g., Picea; or petiolate; e.g., Tsuga, on the peg.

Scale Leaf. Small, usually appressed and imbricate; e.g., Juniperus, Thuja.

Short Shoot. Very short or inconspicuous internodes and growth very slow if at all.

• Determinate. No continued growth; shoot with leaves drops as a unit; e.g., Pinus fascicle.
• Indeterminate. Continued growth by an apical meristem; spur-branch; e.g., Larix, Cedrus, Ginkgo.

Uninodal Shoot. Spring shoot developing from the terminal winter bud and producing only one internode with one whorl of branches at the end; the cones are subterminal at the end of the shoot; e.g., Pinus resinosa.

B. Reproductive Structures

Apophysis. Exposed outer surface of either an ovuliferous scale or megasporophyll as seen when the cone is closed.

Aril. An outgrowth from the stem forming a fleshy covering of the seed; e.g., Taxus, Torreya; or only rudimentary at base of the fleshy seed; e.g., Cephalotaxus.

Bract. Modified leaf subtending the ovuliferous scale; may be distinct or fused to the scale.

Cone (strobilus). Aggregation of sporangia-bearing structures at tip of the stem (either sporophylls or scales in the Gymnosperms).

• Female Cone (megasporangiate strobilus). Bearing ovules or seeds.
• Male Cone (microsporangiate strobilus). Bearing pollen sacs (microsporangia).

Epimatium. Fleshy covering of the seed and more or less fused with the integument; arising from the chalazal end of the ovule like an additional integument; e.g., Podocarpus.

Megasporophyll. Modified leaf bearing o w les; e.g., Zamia.

Microsporophyll. Modified leaf bearing microsporangia or pollen sacs.

Ovuliferous Scale. Highly modified lateral branch in the axil of a leaf (bract), and bearing ovules. May be flat or peltate, woody or fleshy; e.g., Pinaceae.

Receptaculum. A fleshy structure below the seed formed from the bases of bracts and the swollen receptacle or cone axis; e.g.,Acmopyle, and some Podocarpus spp.

Umbo. Projection, with or without spine or prickle, on the apophysis of the cone scale.